Lipgloss Lounge

Scrub It Up

2012-01-25T23:49:00.000-05:00

After spending hours looking at images on Pinterest to distract myself(the iPad has changed my life), I found several recipes for scrubs. This is new for me. Usually I'd just purchase my Mary Kay or Clinique and call it a day, but I decided I'd try some homemade stuff. I'm SO happy that I did. So happy that I need to share with you all (if anyone is still really reading that is). :)

Pumpkin Face Mask

1 tablespoon of canned pumpkin

1 teaspoon of honey

1/2 teaspoon of milk

Combine all of the ingredients

Apply to clean face in a circular motion.

Leave mask on for 15-20 minutes, then rinse off with warm water.

Foot Scrub

1 cup sugar

Olive Oil to make it damp

a few drops of essential oil of your choosing. I used Lavender but I want to try peppermint.

This is a good gift idea too.

And this is my favorite of all three:

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon olive oil

a little honey can be added too.

I've been using these this week and I feel like my face has never felt better. Seriously. I can't believe the difference. Let me know if you try these!

iLove

2012-01-22T20:31:00.001-05:00

I swear I'm almost ready to get back to blogging on the regular. I have a lot to say but most of it isn't fit for public viewing so I've tried to keep it away from blogville. And my usual trivial postings about nail polish and fluff haven't been on my mind much. 2011 2011 was one of two most challenging years of my life to date. The first was 2001. I guess it's good that it's every 10 years, right?

Anyway, in trying to get myself back to "normal" I decided i needed to do something for me that would make me happy. So I finally got an iPad. It's amazing! And though it doesn't fix things in life, it sure is fun! It's the little things.

Now I wonder if there is app for "happily ever after". :)

Game time!

2012-01-11T20:29:00.000-05:00

I'm still here. Still not quite myself but trying to stay busy and distract myself with being crafty. Oh and watching basketball. It's probably the thing keeping me together these days. Forget Christmas--Basketball season is the most wonderful time of the year! So I decided to put together a little something for my friend Beth and her kids. She's a fellow Orange fan & alum.

I gathered up some fun stuff (basketball plates, blowouts, orange utensils, cups, napkins, Syracuse chocolates, Otto kisses, bubbles, straws...)

Put it in a big orange bucket that I got at the Family Dollar during Halloween time I modgepodged a few Syracuse basketball graphics on it and tied some ribbons to the sides.

Before I put the fun stuff in it, I added a swag that I made as the basket filler (this is like the swag I used for the Christmas tree and now hangs on my porch windows)

I fashioned up some Otto Kisses (I rewrote the little poem based on the snowman kisses thing I found--I like this one way better)

After everything was in place I shrink wrapped a gift basket bag to the bucket and tied it up with some fun ribbon.

I thought it was fun and I think it's a good idea for a spirit bucket for a fan! I might have to market this during March. But only for teams I like...

It Creeps In

2011-12-22T22:58:00.001-05:00

I'm still not into the holiday season. I can't wait for it to be over and the new year to be here. But despite my lack of cheer I have let a little festiveness creep in this month.

A little Christmas magic. When I have kids I plan on making them go outside to sprinkle this on the front lawn on Christmas eve.

The other is a candy cane vase that I saw on pinterest. It the only traditional Christmas thing I have on display in my house. I think it turned out pretty cute.

And that's all she wrote for Christmas 2011...

Happy Holidays all!!

Orange

2011-12-13T21:10:00.001-05:00

It's been a long month or so. Heartbreak is terrible no matter how old you are. I'm not quite in the blogging mood yet but I wanted to share something fun (and wanted to try the blogger app).

I'm not feeling very christmasy so I've not gotten any of my decorations out. But I figured the one thing I love is my Syracuse Orange basketball. So I figured I'd celebrate that for the holidays...

So I made an orange theme tree. I used orange and white lights, painted "s" on blue ornaments, made orange bows, got a ribbon made for the tree topper. My favorite part is the orange and blue swag for the tree skirt and the little chalkboard.

It may not be a traditional tree but it makes me smile. And they are ranked #1 this week!

Let's Go Orange!!

Goodies by Green

2011-10-31T23:11:00.000-04:00

Well, I have nothing really nice to say at this time. So I'm not gonna say much. I'm having a really, really hard time right now. But in an attempt to not let one of my favorite "holidays" go by and an attempt to cheer myself, I made some cute treats to give to friends. I saw this on pinterest in the summer.

Graham crackers, mini Hershey bars and ghost peeps

Put them in a plastic baggie and tie it with cute ribbon.

And you've got a festive s'more.

Let's hope this will help me with some good karma.

Soon.

Fingers Crossed.

Happy Halloween!!

Boom.

2011-10-18T23:08:00.001-04:00

Hello blog friends! It has been a long time, I know. I hope there are people that are still out there to read. I'm not going to try to capture my life in the last two months or so. But I will say that since early August, my life has been more wonderful and happy and interesting than it's been in a long, long time. And also filled with so many confusing emotions that I can't do justice in a blog post. But the one thing I do know is that I'm in love. And that's all I'm going to really say about this for now. I promise I'll talk about it another time. But for now, I'm gonna keep it to myself. I'm not saying this to be secretive and weird. I've just always wanted to use this blog as a place to record the things in my life. And I couldn't leave this out. Especially after my long absence from blogging. And don't worry, I'm pretty sure he's in love too. It's just not something I want to share details about yet. Another day.

And in between all of my feelings I've discovered, I have done some stuff too. Work has been CRAZY! I've never felt more work related stress than I have in the last few months. I'm teaching a freshman transition course and it's so time consuming that it's put a damper on my real job responsibilities. I need more hours in the day. I've been so stressed in the last few weeks that I haven't even painted my nails. Boys and work really stress a girl out!

I was looking through my iPhone pictures and realized I have lots of stuff to catch you up on. I'll start with the important stuff. My favorite new accessories. Duh.

I had to have this bag. I call her the Orange Beauty. And I'm pretty much in love with it. I try to coordinate as many outfits as I can to this bag. Lovely, right?

And on my way back from Maine (another post) I picked up this wallet. Michael Kors outlet style. I believe I put this on my wish list a few months ago. And the good news is I finally got to retire the Vera Bradley that I'm SO over. No more Vera for me. It was a phase, and I'm done now. The consignment shop is gonna love me.

I've discovered I need many new fall clothes but just haven't had the motivation to do any shopping for that. I've been much to busy being crazy about a boy and working. Good for my budget, bad for my closet.

I think I may have some blog motivation again. I'm pretty distracted by other stuff right now but I'll do my very best. For tonight, I'll leave you with a picture of my favorite fall decoration. My Syracuse pumpkin. Love.

I'm going to make a list of the things I need to blog about...but first some sleep.

Thanks for sticking with me!!

Hello

2011-09-13T21:19:00.000-04:00

I will be back, my friends. I will catch up on your blogs too. I just need to get my blog motivation back. And when I do, it's gonna be good stuff.

Pinky Swear.

Happy Tuesday!!

August...

2011-08-23T21:54:00.000-04:00

I'm the worst at blogging this month. I was really into the challenge but I've had kind of a crazy month. A good month. So good that I suck at blogging. This is my attempt to let you know I'm still alive, and I'm doing well.

A few fun things to share from the month:

The local county fair. We were nerds and won stuff (stuff that was given to Jill's dog for toys).

We had a fun time on the Blues Train...again. Don't worry there are still a few more train rides this fall. But this was a good one.

And I brought back big hair into my life. I got off the curls for a while but they are back, my friends. Back again.

So that's that. I have lots of other fun things to share (and to actually finish up the challenge) but tonight I'm gonna lay on the couch and be happy about the way this summer is ending.

Happy Tuesday!!

Local Love

2011-08-18T23:52:00.000-04:00

Day 18: Favorite Place to Eat

I guess I could say a number of nice restaraunts. But really though, my all time clutch place to eat at anytime of the day or night is a local pizza place, Sal's. I've been going there since college. It's the perfect 2 am slice of pizza you'll ever eat. Promise. Yum.

Looking Forward

2011-08-17T22:33:00.000-04:00

Day 17: Something you're looking forward to

I'm not certain that I'm going but the possibility alone is making me happy. And it would be with my girl, Courtney. Sounds like something that we should make a reality. On August 27th.

Dream House

2011-08-16T22:42:00.000-04:00

Day 16: Dream House

I'm not really a fan of this topic today. Why? Because houses are houses to me. I have lived in a lot of them throughout my life. I don't get attached to houses. There are a lot of beautiful houses out there. I'm sure I could google search some houses and slap one on this post and call it a day. But the truth is...I think houses are merely a space.

I'd much rather tell you what I want in my dream home:

A cozy living room with a fireplace.
A kitchen that is big enough to have a couch.
A bedroom with a balcony.
Porches with rocking chairs
Cats running around inside and dogs running around outside a big yard with a nice fence.
Friends and family stopping by to hang out anytime.
Sounds of laughter and fun.
HUGE closets for all bedrooms.
Places to relax and enjoy life.

I'm sure there are a thousand things I could say but I want to have the kind of home that everyone feels welcome. When a person walks into my home, I want them to feel like they could live there too. I want it to be the kind of place that you wish you could be when you feel stressed. You won't need to take off your shoes before you come in. The focus will be on the people, not the perfection of the cleanliness. It'll be decorated really cute with attention to detail. Warm & happy. That's it. Home sweet home. With a cool name. Because all homes deserve a clever name.

Happy Tuesday!!

Satisfied

2011-08-15T23:13:00.000-04:00

Day 15: A moment you've felt satisfied with your life

I'm not sure there is just one moment that I've felt satisfied with my life. It's in many moments.

It's laughing with my friends.
It's a text message that makes me smile.
It's coming home to two little cuddly cats that want to sit on my lap.
It's a student that tells me I made a difference in their life.
It's remembering fun times in my childhood.
It's the children that are in my life because my friends have let me be an "aunt"
It's my cozy apartment after a long day.
It's singing loudly in the shower.
It's taking a walk
It's creating something.
It's a warm cup of coffee.

It's a thousand little things everyday. Because even when things are tough, the little things are what makes my life satisfying.

Diet Coke

2011-08-09T23:09:00.020-04:00

Day 9: A habit you wish you didn't have

I don't have many habits that I can really think of. I got rid of several in the last few years. I'm sure I still have habits that I'm not really aware of that are bad or irritating, but the one I'm thinking I wish I could break myself of is..diet coke.

I try not to drink too much, so it's not like the worst thing ever, but I know that the artificial stuff isn't the most healthy for me. So eventually, I'd like to not drink it. But until then, it's gonna happen and I'm going to embrace it. Just not more than one a day.

Lloret de Mar

2011-08-08T22:21:00.000-04:00

Day 8: A place you've traveled to

I feel like this post should include pictures. Back in the day I was a lucky girl. I got to go to lots of great places. And I wish I had been older to truly appreciate what I was experiencing. Although, I feel like it might have been good that I didn't because it helped me learn about the world in a very different way than some of my friends.

My senior year of high school I got to go to Lloret de Mar, Spain for my senior trip. It was amazing. I still think of this trip and remember how much fun it was.

I wish I could be there right now.

And I thought it was totally normal to go to Spain for my senior trip.

Now Showing

2011-08-07T21:44:00.001-04:00

Day 7: Favorite movie

I don't know if I really have a favorite movie, but one movie that I could watch whenever it's on TV is Legally Blonde. And it's not because it's a girly movie. I really like the message it sends. I think it's very empowering. The moral of the movie:

"You must always have faith in people.. and most importantly.. you must always have faith in yourself"

How can you not feel good when you watch Elle Woods figure out she's great all on her own. Good stuff!

Baby Face

2011-08-06T15:38:00.000-04:00

Day 6: A picture of you as a baby

A highly evolved sense of fashion starts early. Case in point.

Best of What's Around

2011-08-05T22:53:00.001-04:00

Day 5: A song to match your mood today

Well, it's ironic that this was the topic today. Because I woke up and heard a song and I then proceeded to listen to it about 75 times. Does that happen to you? Sometimes I fixate on one song that seems to be the answer to all of my life philosophies for the day.

And today it's an oldie but a goodie. Dave Matthews Band: The Best of What's Around.

And the reason it matches my mood today. Because the lyrics really sum up how I feel lately. Life is definitely not perfect (and never will be) but I have good people in my life and I will always make the best of what's around. My favorite lines:

"Oh you could say she's safe. Whatever tears at her. Whatever holds her down.

And if nothing can be done she'll make the best of what's around"

AND

"And if you hold on tight to what you think is your thing you may find you're missing all the rest"

And both of these lyrics are ringing true in my life right now. Besides, it's a good song for the car on a great summer day!

2011-08-04T23:38:00.000-04:00

Day 4: Your parents or siblings

My parents. I'll share a little about them. They've been together since they were in high school. I was born during their senior year. I attended their graduation AND their wedding. I was ten months old when they got married and they've been happily married ever since. I share this because I think it's great that they've been able to work at it and be happy together for some many years. I've learned a lot about how I want to be treated in a relationship from watching them. I hope that I find a man that is as honorable as my father to his family. It's good stuff. They gave me a great childhood and I'll always be thankful to them for that.

Happy Thursday!

First Love

2011-08-03T21:20:00.005-04:00

Day 3: Your first love

I thought about trying to be clever today because I wasn't into this topic. But I decided to just keep it real. Because we've all had a first love and every love story deserves to be told. No matter what the ending looked like.

When I was 15, I was certain that my first boyfriend was my first 'love'. Turns out--not so much. But like Taylor Swift sings "when you're fifteen and somebody tell you they love you you're gonna believe them." (I heard that song this morning while I was getting ready--how funny). He was definitely not my first love.

And after a few more boyfriends (I was kinda cute in high school), I met the person that earned the title of my first love. I had just turned 17 and he gave me 17 pink roses and told me he liked me. I told him I liked his friend. He didn't really care to hear that. But within weeks I realized that I didn't like it when he talked to other girls and I didn't want him to go out with anyone else. And before I knew it, I couldn't think about anyone else and he was my boyfriend. And then I fell in love. Big time. He made me laugh, he made me feel good about myself, he wrote me love notes. He once told me that he would write me a rap song if we ever got married. And he believed I was beautiful--he told me every day. He was everything that the 17 year old I once was wanted. We had a very intense relationship. We couldn't get enough of each other. We graduated from high school and moved back to the states. We did the long distance thing while I was in college. We broke up once and got back together during freshman year. Then after a lot of trying and crying, the 4 year relationship was over during my junior year. It broke my heart. I've never been so sad in my entire life. I spent the second semester of junior year in sweat pants and a pony tail writing letters that I never sent to him. We did talk a few times--once in my senior year (he asked me to move to be near him) and again when his son was born. But I've never seen him again. He lives in another state so there is no chance of running into him.

But I don't like to dwell on the end because he was my greatest lesson I've learned. I will always think of him fondly. I don't think I ever want to see him again because I don't want our story to have any additional chapters. But the important thing about my first love is that no matter who I have loved since him and who I will love in the future, the 17 year old part of me will always love him the 17 year old part of him. And that's the part of the story that I always want to remember.

The End. :)

The one thing that I still have of his is this shirt. I just feel bad throwing it out. It lives in the box of my high school stuff.

What's in A Name?

2011-08-02T23:43:00.000-04:00

Day 2: Meaning behind your blog name

I started this blog in 2008. After I spent a good amount of time reading my friend, Angie's. And totally mocking her for it. But something about blogging was fascinating to me. I liked how people shared parts of their lives in this format.

I wanted to try it out. I just needed to see where it took me. I remember spending an entire night sitting at the computer trying to figure out what to name it. That seemed like a big decision. It needed to be something fun, clever and catchy. And it needed to suggest what a reader was going to get.

And after A LOT of thinking--I remembered a funny e-mail that my friend, Cristina, had sent me a few years ago. She sends hilarious e-mails with top ten lists, ideas for our faux image consulting business. And one of the e-mails included a list of shows that we'd feature if we had our own TV network. This was my favorite: (Well, actually Eyebrow Emergency was but that wouldn't make a good blog name)

"Lipgloss Lounge" - a 'what's new and hot' in cosmetics both pricey & cheap. We discuss in a comfy loungey environment, with lots of pillows and plush things and coffee. Makeovers given using the new products. Sponsored by Starbucks.

Bingo. I had found my blog name. Because I wanted this blog to be a place for my friends (and family) to catch up on the random things in my life. The things that I'd talk about if we were having coffee-- the random topics, the silly things that happen, fun memories, and everything else in between. Nothing too heavy. I wanted it to feel like I would actually talk about the things I write about if I was talking on the phone to a friend/family member.

And now three years later, I feel like I love the name even more. Despite the fact that I don't get a lot of comments or I don't have over 100 followers, I feel like I'm actually staying true to what I wanted this blog to be--a place for my friends/family/blog friends to get some random chatter about my world.

Hopefully with a cup of coffee in their hand.

Thanks to Cristina for the supplying the inspiration for the name! xoxo

High Maintenance

2011-08-01T23:23:00.020-04:00

I spent the day running errands. I go back to work tomorrow. I don't know where this month has gone. It flew by.

Anyway, I had a hard time deciding on a nail color today. I was going to go with an old stand by then I remembered I had a secret stash. Jill got me a collection of Sephora by OPI for my birthday this year. I love this collection. It's so much fun

I chose High Maintenance. It's a nice bright orange/red. And I love the name. Haha.

Happy Monday!!

What color are you wearing?

Challenge Accepted

2011-08-01T11:32:00.000-04:00

I had an excellent weekend in Memphis. I got in late last night so I haven't downloaded pictures or unpacked my suitcase yet. Don't worry, I'll be getting to that this week. I want to share it with you.

I'm taking today off so that I can get some stuff done before I head back to work for real this week. And it's Mani Monday so I have to share a nail polish. BUT since it's the first day of a new month I wanted to start this today too.

My friend over at Life in the Slow Lane, put this on her blog and it looks like fun. I thought I wouldn't do another challenge again after the photo challenge from February but this one is a little different. We'll see how it goes. Please feel free to play along. Here is the outline of the days.

Day 1: Introduce, recent picture of yourself, 15 interesting facts

Day 2: Meaning behind your blog name

Day 3: Your first love

Day 4: Your parents or siblings

Day 5: A song to match your mood today

Day 6: A picture of you as a baby

Day 7: Favorite movie

Day 8: A place you've traveled to

Day 9: A habit you wish you didn't have

Day 10: Something you're afraid of

Day 11: A TV show you're addicted to

Day 12: Something you don't leave the house without

Day 13: Goals

Day 14: A picture of you last year - how have you changed?

Day 15: A moment you've felt satisfied with your life

Day 16: Dream house

Day 17: Something you're looking forward to

Day 18: Favorite Place to Eat

Day 19: Something you miss

Day 20: Nicknames you have

Day 21: Something you could never get tired of doing

Day 22: What's in your purse?

Day 23: Favorite board game

Day 24: Something you've learned

Day 25: Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs

Day 26: Your Dream Wedding

Day 27: The city you live in

Day 28: Something that stresses you out

Day 29: 3 Wishes

Day 30: a picture of yourself this day and 5 good things that happened since you started the challenge.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Let's Get Started...

Day 1: A recent picture of yourself and 15 interesting facts

1. When I pack to go away I always try everything on and make an outfit before I put it in a suitcase.

2. I don't like seafood so I say I'm allergic to it so that I don't have to discuss my dislike for it.

3. I'd like to write a book someday. About something really cool. I have some ideas.

4. I hate when girls wear cute dresses and ruin it by wearing old navy flip flops. Come on.

5. I want another tattoo. A very tasteful, easily hidden one.

6. I've learned a lot about myself in the last 3 years that I didn't know. I'm stronger than I thought I was.

7. Arrested Development is one of the funniest and smartest shows I've ever watched.

8. I always wished I had a sister. Probably like every girl that doesn't have one. But I've picked a lot of friends that feel like sisters. :)

9. I worry about how I look a lot. Probably too much.

10. Music is my boyfriend.

11. I eat oatmeal with banana or strawberries every morning. With my coffee.

12. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm really good at so that I can use it professionally. (Seriously, I want to do consulting on the side of my current career so I'm not saying I'm not good at things just what my niche will be in my professional/personal life)

13. It takes me a long time to think someone is special enough to fall for them. It explains a lot about my single status. ha.

14. I love it when I laugh so hard that I cry. It's one of my favorite feelings. Ever.

15. I have a hard time coming up with interesting facts about myself. The End.

Before & After

2011-07-28T23:31:00.001-04:00

I came to the realization this week that I not only have a great adoration for nail polish, I've become a big fan of another kind of paint as well...spray paint. This month I've spent a lot of time outside spray painting a variety of stuff. I swear the neighbors probably think I've lost my mind.

In my defense (not that I need one) I have been saving some of these projects since last year. It's hard to spray paint with snow on the ground. And sometimes I just need to change something up. Either way, it's been spray paintingpalooza around here.

And since I've been sticking close to home this month and don't have much to blog about, I figure I'll share some of the stuff I've changed up with the magic of paint.

This chalkboard was a picture frame (was black before) and the glass got a few coats of chalkboard paint. It's in my guest room.

This chest was purchased last summer at a yard sale. It sat out on my porch for the last year. I finally decided to bring it inside.

It's now a window bench. The cats LOVE this. I'm making a pillow or two out of that fabric soon. It's on my summer project list. The bench holds blankets that I use on the couch.

This old sewing bucket was $4. My friend, Sabrina, has one similar and hers was so cute that I wanted one.

I decided on black. I like the way it turned out with the stripes. It currently lives in my living room in a corner near the couch. I am going to use it for remote controls and coasters. Or it's just gonna sit in the corner being a space filler.

I got this birdcage a few weeks ago for the mantle in my bedroom. I wasn't in love but for $5 I thought I could figure out what I could do with it. (I'd like to paint the owl but I feel bad doing that because my Grandma gave him to me, but I wish he was white)

Now I actually really like this birdcage. It's way cuter this way. And it goes better with my new black/white color scheme.

Speaking of the bedroom redo, I just got this jar for the mantle too and used music sheets with ribbon for a little something different.

This is the new bedroom "look". I just hung up this window above the bed this week. (Thanks, Dad!) The wall isn't yellow, it was just bad lighting that day. It's actually khaki. I would love to paint, but I'm running out of summer.

It's been a busy month of of projects around here. I have a few more things on my list before I go back to work next Tuesday. I could get used to being at home all the time...but I'm not sure I can afford all the spray paint I'd have to buy to keep myself busy. Ha!

I'm off to Memphis to go to St. Jude tomorrow for a few days! I'm excited!

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Merino Cool

2011-07-27T10:47:00.001-04:00

I really have vacation/furlough brain. I completely forgot to post on Monday night for Mani Monday. It's okay, I didn't even have polish on that day because I decided I'd spray paint stuff AGAIN.

I picked up this new color yesterday. Merino Cool by Essie.

I like it a lot. It's probably going to be a regular (well, as regular as I get). I'm a big fan of Chinchilly by Essie and this is a few shades deeper than that. It's got a purple tint to it so it's really creamy and pretty. I think it's good for a year round wear. I know it's traditional to wear bright colors in the summer but I don't really buy into that. I've been wearing bright colors a lot lately and when I put this on I immediately loved it. It's kind of neutral so it looks good with a tan and it will look good in the winter too. The one thing I don't usually like about Essie (although it's my second favorite brand) is that it's pretty thin. But this color is creamy enough that two coats covers great.

All in all, I'd recommend this color as a staple in any nail polish collection.

Caves & Trains

2011-07-24T23:26:00.001-04:00

I can't believe the weekend is over! Not that I'm going to work tomorrow but I still can't believe the weekend went by so fast. It was a nice weekend. I'm actually really tired today so I'll be hitting the sheets right after I finish sharing.

After spending Friday night doing laundry, I got some good sleep and woke up early to hit up a few yard sales. I didn't find any treasures, really. I did find something fun for my Dad though. I was home by 10 am and headed to "work" for the day. And my work this summer is taking students on fun trips. We were scheduled to go to Howe Caverns as a large group but we made the trip optional so only 3 students went with us. Actually, it was nice to have only a few students. They seemed to enjoy it. So did Gillian and I. (it's nice to have a friend to go do these things with in the name of work) I have lived in this area for 14 years and never been to the Caverns. It's been on my to do list for a long time so it has officially been checked off now.

Heading to the caverns.

The tour is about 80 minutes long. We took the traditional tour with walking and a boat ride. They also offer a lantern tour but we needed more people to do that.

Gillian and I before we headed in to go on the tour. I love the view. This is part of the reason I put up with the snow in the winter. Central NY is so pretty.

It's 52 degrees year round so it was absolutely wonderful on such a hot day. And Saturday was HOT. Here's a look at stalactites or stalagmites or whatever the tour guide told us. I can't remember and you probably don't care. It just looks cool.

Here I am being a geek standing on the bridal alter. I guess people have weddings down there. Interesting. I wonder how they set up for that. Dang, I should have asked.

It was a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

After the cave tour, we stopped at a BBQ place called Rubbin Butts. It was delicious.

We headed home after this to get ready (well, Gillian and I) to head out for the night to go to one of my favorite summer activities...the Blues Train. I love this train and the band is the one that played at Jill's wedding so it's really fun. The train was packed and it was HOT out. It didn't even really get cool after it got dark. Good thing for cool beverages.

The band doing their thing.

Me, Jill, Gillan and Luke (from the band) We were pretty sweaty.

We actually stayed out later than I expected after the train. So today was a sleeping in, being lazy kind of day. I got to see my Dad though, that was good.

Next weekend I'll be going to Memphis. Yay!

Hope you all had a great weekend! Did you do anything new and interesting?

Craft Cart

2011-07-22T23:57:00.002-04:00

Today went by so quickly. I went to see Harry Potter in 3D. I saw it on the first night regular style but really wanted to check it out in 3D. And since it's been so hot here I figured a cool theatre would be a good way to spend a few hours. And after I got home from that I didn't do much else except lay in front of the air conditioner and did laundry. I'm exciting, what can I say.

I did finish up a project that I started this week. Last weekend I went to a few yard sales with my yard sale pals, Angie & Sabrina. We found a random treasure and after a little discussion Sabrina and I took home the below AV cart (there were two). Now why would we need an AV cart? No, it's not 1985 and we don't have overhead projectors to speak of. But yes, we had a vision for it.

Doesn't this remind you of elementary school?

I spray painted mine a bright blue.

And turned it into a craft utility cart. It's great because of the power outlet on the side. Perfect for hot glue guns, irons, etc. I have a craft closet but it's small and it's kind of annoying to always have to be digging out the basics for every time I want to be crafty. And I hate messing up my tables and counters with messy projects.

The bottom shelf has a big basket with things like an iron, a bow maker, paper cutter, rulers, etc.

The middle shelf has paint, ribbon and glue guns.

The top houses a bucket of paint brushes and a little tote that has scissors, tape, glue, hole punch, etc. All the essentials. (I love this because it is portable so I can take this anywhere. I even brought it to Jill's wedding in case we needed supplies.)

And Sabrina and I found these great magnetic curtain rods to use for ribbon on the side. I think I need a few more but I put my basic ribbons on these two.

I'm still not sure where it will live but for now it's in the office (the "weird" room) in a corner. I have a thing about having stuff like this visible but I don't think it's that much of an eye sore. I really like that it's on wheels so I can move it around.

I think it's a pretty good use of an old AV cart. And it was only $8. You gotta love a bargain like that. And please go check out Sabrina's version. She did a great job on hers and since she organized hers first, you'll see some of mine looks amazingly similar to hers. :) You know what they say about imitation...

What do you think?

And Happy Birthday to one of my favorite girls, Cristina! xoxo

Pinteresting.

2011-07-21T23:44:00.001-04:00

This morning, I read something about Pinterest somewhere and I'd heard the term enough times now that I had to see what this was all about.

It seemed like a fun thing. It's kind of like a virtual idea binder. And you may remember how I feel about my idea binder. (love) So I signed up to get an invitation. I got it and I took a little look. Seemed cute but I wasn't completely convinced. Then tonight I came home (after spending the day at the office even though I'm technically off) and layed in bed with the AC pumping looking at pinterest..until I went out for ice cream.

And while eating ice cream with Jill & Gillian, I got the app for Pinterest and spent a good amount of time looking at fun things (and showing them to the girls). So far I think it's fun. I think it'll be great to find new ideas for crafts, clothes, home stuff, events, etc.

And I think it's kind of like eye candy. I read blogs and look at magazines to be visually inspired to try something new or appreciate aesthetics so this will assist me with this. I love google image search. It's how I've found a lot of good ideas so this will be a place to gather all the fun things I find and be able to trace the source.

And for the record, the iPhone has changed my life. Besides organizing my world, I am constantly entertained with things like this and Words with Friends.

It's a Brave New World, friends.

Are you using Pinterest? If so, how? I've got to get back to pinning things. This is going to be dangerous...

Decked Out

2011-07-19T22:51:00.000-04:00

I know I have a lot of things I could have done to be productive today. But I kind of took a day off of my time off. Yes. I meant that. Instead of doing a project or running errands, or being social, I spent the entire day out on my deck. Solo.

In the winter I glance wistfully at the deck and can't wait to sit out there in the warm sun. And then it gets warm and I seem to be so busy running around that I don't utilize it as much as I would like. That's what happened last summer.

The morning consisted of coffee (with my new Keurig) and the Kindle and some music. It was so nice out. I did send some work emails so I was semi-productive too. At noon I went in to work out (Jillian Michaels) and eat some lunch. I put on my bathing suit and was going to pack up a bag to go to the pool, but then I decided that I'd just stay home and sit outside. Maybe it was being lazy, but it worked out.

I ended up spending the entire afternoon sitting outside reading and relaxing. I got some sun and I finished a book. And I felt really relaxed. It was great. I didn't feel guilty about not doing anything else. There's always tomorrow right?

And my afternoon snack was cherries. Yum. I just discovered my fondness for them. They look pretty, right?

Today was the kind of day that I will think of when there is 17 feet of snow on the ground and wish for.

Happy Tuesday!

Sparrow Me The Drama

2011-07-18T23:37:00.001-04:00

I forgot about Mani Monday last week. So it's back. And with a new polish. It's called Sparrow Me The Drama from the Pirates of the Caribbean collection. Although the flash makes it look a little different than it does in person. But either way, I like it. It's a nice pink and it goes on smoothly. Many times pinks look streaky on me. I think it's a keeper.

Other than purchasing new polish, things have been pretty quiet. Spending time outside, cleaning out my kitchen cabinets and running errands. I am still working a bit with a summer program but I haven't sat in my office for weeks. I can do my work from home. I have to make a priority list every day so I stay a little structured. I have a fun project to work on tomorrow. And I think I may try to work out again. (My Achilles feels better. I was able to wear flip flops this weekend yay!). I would really like to be running again. Oh, and I want to see Harry Potter again too. And spend some time at the pool.

As you can see, it's a rough life at Club Chestnut.

Happy Monday! What color polish are you wearing?

Anntastic!

2011-07-14T20:37:00.000-04:00

I'm an avid Today Show viewer. I tune in every day. Even the days I don't go to work (like today). The first hour of the show is my favorite because it's the lead stories but I like the silly stories and magazine style the second hour too. Anyway, I was happy to see that "Harry Potter" was going to be interviewed by Ann. Great. And then in the middle of the interview I noticed Ann's shoes. And I think I fell in love. I immediately picked up my phone and took to twitter to express my feelings about these shoes.

How great are these?

(Photo courtesy of Twitter)

A few hours later, I saw another "tweet" about how much shoe love Ann was getting today. I guess I wasn't alone in my shoe envy/lust. Good work, Ann Curry (or whoever selects her on air outfits). I always like Ann's style because it's simple and cute. I wanted to share them here in case you missed it. (and secretly because I want to have a record of these shoes in case I need to reference them again...ha ha)

And since we're speaking of Ann, I thought I'd share my moment with her. She spoke at Syracuse when I was a grad student and I got to meet her. She was warm and lovely in person. In fact, I told her I'd someday sit on the couch at the Today Show. HA! She complimented my necklace--it was an "A" charm. ;)

I looked like a MESS that day. I had some bad hair and was in the middle of a crazy graduate semester. Yikes! Eh, whatever, I still have this picture hanging in my office.

Who knows, maybe I'll end up on the Today Show after all...

....talking about shoes....or nail polish...or something that doesn't belong in the first hour.

Happy Thursday!

Who's seeing HP tonight?

All Keyed Up

2011-07-13T00:36:00.002-04:00

I took the last week of June off from work and did a lot of projects around the house. I think I was feeling creative. OR I am sick of my yard sale purchases sitting waiting to be done. Either way, I got some stuff done. I think my creativity is gone this week though. I'm not working my normal hours so I have a lot of free time, but so far this week I've been laying on my couch feeling down. Blah. I need the creativity back....

Anyway, this project I was really excited about. I have always wanted to do something with skeleton keys. So I picked up three at my favorite "junk" store. They were 2.50 each. Which is fine but my Dad told me he has a box of them. Damn! (Dad, I'll still gladly accept a few for other projects)

The keys are sitting on my back porch (yes, the steps are weathered, but they look kind of cool with the keys)

I got a wooden frame for $1.25. I painted it black and scuffed it up a bit.

Then I used burlap from a ripped sack that we used for the Greek Olympics. (Resourceful, right?) I cut a piece and glue it on to a piece of cardboard to fit the frame.

After the burlap dried, I glued the three keys directly on the burlap.

I love how it turned out! It's exactly how I envisioned it. It's now hanging in my living room.

And for the record, I need new lamps. Like yesterday.

What do you think of the key project? It's totally pottery barn, right?

I kid. I kid.

Little Lady Tea Party

2011-07-12T08:23:00.002-04:00

After recovering from the wedding, I needed something new to look forward to. And that came this past weekend. For the past few years, I've taken a day trip to see one of my best girls to see her family and celebrate her darling little girl. I always look forward to this day because I absolutely adore little Lucy. And of course, I have adored her mother, Courtney, for many years. :)

The theme of the party was "tea party" so I figured that a hat was in order. (Note: no one else wore a hat. I'd really like to live in place that people wore hats and dresses to events.)

The drive is 2 hours and the weather was great for a drive. It was warm and sunny. I love this particular drive. It's so pretty. I enjoy a few hours alone in a car. I get a lot of thinking done. Not to mention, the car concerts I put on. This time I could have sworn Adele and I sound EXACTLY alike.

Once I arrived, presents and cake were happening.

This was the adorable cake. Check out the tea cups on it.

Opening of the presents!

look at this little cutie! He is so sweet. He came up and threw his arms around my legs to hug me. It melted my heart.

Four generations of lovely women!

Guess who got a bike for her 4th birthday?

I love this little face! She doesn't really know me (and neither does her brother) because I only really see them once a year, but both of them were so quick to give hugs and kisses to the strange "aunt" lady with red hair. It makes my heart full!

Here is me with girl, Courtney. I am blessed to have such amazing friends in my life. The ones that stick are always the right ones. And this girl has stuck with me through everything since 1995 when we met. And I can't explain how supportive she's been in the last few months. She's a part of my heart.

I'm so glad I got to go down for a visit. And to celebrate an adorable little lady as she turns 4!! And once again, am reminded how lucky I am to have friends that feel like family. And thanks to her, I get to be called "Aunt Allison". I love that!

Happy Birthday, Lucy! xoxo

Wedding Weekend

2011-07-11T11:59:00.001-04:00

I'm FINALLY back. And have LOTS to post about. But the first one has to be dedicated to Jill & Vinny's wedding from last week. It was a great weekend even with the rain that changed plans on the wedding day. Jill did a fantastic job of planning for everything and it was a truly lovely day for everyone that attended and was involved. But more importantly, I think Jill and Vinny had a great day. They both looked incredible and so happy. It's nice to watch your friend have one of the best days of their life. I've only added a few pictures because the rest will be on FB.

I wanted to commemorate the weekend at Club Chestnut. We had some wedding guests stay here so it needs to be festive.

Saturday night the rehearsal dinner was so nice. It was at a local restaurant. Here is the entire bridal party assembled. Quite the crew.

The ladies.

Jill is the best gift giver in general. But she outdid herself with the bridal party gifts. Coach makeup bags and clutches. Thanks, Jill!

After the rehearsal dinner, the ladies went over to Jill's apt to hang out for a bit before we headed home to get some sleep (well, we got sleep. Jill didn't get much).

The morning of the wedding started off very rainy. Considering the ceremony was scheduled to be outside, this was a little stressful. We all headed over to Jill's apartment to get hair and makeup done. It was a little stressful for the bride. There were a lot of people, a lot of rain, a lot of emotions and a lack of sleep. She was a champ though. And we all got on to the bus to head over to the wedding site. We had a 40 minute ride on a yellow school bus (how fun, right?)

We arrived at the plum tree where the everyone was hard at work getting everything set up. This is the location. It is so cute!

The birdcage for the cards.

The guest book. So cute!

The seating chart. It was nice to see it in use after I saw it so much at my house.

The garden that would have been the cocktail hour. This was the view from the room where we got ready. It looked so pretty even in the rain.

Jill's bouquet. So beautiful!

I don't have any pictures from the ceremony. It's hard to walk down the isle with a camera and a bouquet. Ha!! It ended up being inside the reception hall with guests sitting at their seats. It ended up being so beautiful and intimate inside. I think everyone felt like they were able to see everything. The ceremony was so Jill and Vinny. It was funny and touching and so great. They wrote their own vows to each other and Vinny's were probably the funniest and sweetest vows I've ever heard. They even rhymed. I definitely cried throughout the entire ceremony because I was so touched by the words and sentiments. I think it's lovely to watch your friend marry their very best friend. It was the kind of ceremony that I would want. It was full of them. Nothing fake. The spirit of it was friends, family, laughter and fun. I'd say that was pretty perfect.

After the ceremony, the cocktail hour commenced and pictures were taken...and then, after one more clap of thunder, the sun came out and shined for the rest of the night. And the party started!

J & V and the girls from AFP.

The crew from work (through the years)

Tara and I

Another shot. We took about a million.

The bridesmaid bouquets--so pretty!

Vinny surrounded by all the ladies.

The wedding coordinator provided the bridal party a business card with the itinerary attached to the back. So great! Jill saw this at her BF's wedding a few weeks ago and asked her girl to do it for us. Love it!

My hair for the day. I used the flower from my dress in my hair.

Caitlyn and I prior to the ceremony.

The reception was amazing! Lots of dancing (and drinks). I was sad when it was time to go home. Although the ride home on a school bus was full of fun too. ;)

This wedding will go down as one of my most favorite weddings to have attended and I was honored to be a part of their day. I wish them a lifetime of love, laughter, friends and family!

xoxo!

5th of July

2011-07-05T21:40:00.000-04:00

No, I haven't forgotten about writing. I just have been a busy girl. I'll give you some bullet points because it's how I roll tonight.

I have been looking forward to the beginning of July for a while. Because it meant the wedding of my good friend, Jill. She married her long time boyfriend, Vinny this past weekend. It was an incredible wedding. I'm actually a little sad that it's over.
Before the wedding, I did several projects around the house that I'll post about soon. I was feeling creative during my week off. This involved a lot of spray paint.
I'm not working my normal hours for this month. Today I started working another program for students coming to college early. It's going to be a fun month.
I'm pretty sure my Achilles tendon is damaged. I can't wear flats and I limp everywhere. I'm going to seek medical attention very soon.
I got the Kate Spade iPhone cover that I wrote about last week.

So that's kind of where I am. I realize this is a boring post, but I'm literally fighting to keep my eyes open while I watch my shows tonight.

I'll be back tomorrow...or soon.

xoxo

Who's that Guy?

2011-06-30T21:47:00.002-04:00

Who is celebrating a birthday today?

This guy!

My Dad.

This is a great shot of him mocking me with my sunglasses on. That's how he rolls.

I hope you will all join me in wishing him a very happy birthday!

Say Cheese!

2011-06-28T11:44:00.000-04:00

I spent my second day of my "vacation" at work. I think it's funny. I mean, it's not the idea of vacation but I got in the zone and got some stuff done. And I promised I would come in for a meeting. I just stayed the whole day.   I did sleep in and I wore a ponytail and gym shorts to my office, so that made it feel less official.

Anyway, I had planned to make a pan of macaroni and cheese for my friends, Sara & Josh. They are going to Europe on Thursday so I wanted to give them a meal to freeze so that they have dinner on the night they get back. So that they can come home and just unpack and relax. I read this in a travel guide and thought it was a great idea.   Plus, this mac & cheese is so good that I love to share it with others. I never really make it for myself because I worry about how bad it is for me, and I could probably eat the ENTIRE pan myself. So I only make it for others or for events.

Now, I need to let you know that this is called "Grandma Green's Mac & Cheese". At least in my world.   Traditionally I don't care for mac and cheese out of the box (absolutely grosses me out) and I am picky about the homemade varieties I've had.   But when my Grandma makes it, I can't get enough. So a few years ago, I asked her for the recipe. She happily gave it to me. I worried that it wouldn't come out as delicious as when she makes it, and that's true but I think it comes close enough.

So today I'll give you my tutorial about it. (it's kind of like doing a cooking show while I'm taking pictures of the process...)

Ingredients:
1 package macaroni (8 to 9 ounces)
3 cups Thin White sauce (see below for instructions)
1/4 to 1/2 pound grated cheese (about 1 package)
1 tablespoon grated onion
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup butter crumbs (optional--I don't do this part)

Thin White Sauce:

3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups milk

Directions:

1. Cook macaroni, drain and rinse

2. While macaroni is cooking, shred a block of cheddar cheese (you can use shredded but I like to shred it myself)

This is my very favorite brand of sharp cheddar cheese. Yum!

3. Start the white sauce. Melt the butter over low heat. Add flour, salt and pepper. (I pre-measure the ingredients to make this easier)

4. Stir until well blended. Remove from heat.

5. Gradually stir in milk and return to heat. Cook stir constantly until thick and smooth. It take a few minutes, don't worry.

6. Combine hot white sauce, grated cheese, onion, mustard and Worcestershire sauce, reserving a little of the grated cheese for topping.

7. Add mixture to the macaroni and place in a greased casserole dish. Top with cheese and buttered crumbs (optional).

8. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until browned.

Right out of the oven.

So that's how the magic behind my Grandma's recipe. It's so good. I wanted to eat some but I refrained. I even made a second pan of it for my friend Angie and her family. I hope that they all enjoy this deliciousness. It doesn't have the Grandma magic that I love, but it'll have to do.

And thanks to my Grandma for sharing this recipe with me! xoxo

And if you happen to try it out, let me know how you like it. I bet Grandma would like to know too. ;)

Mezmerised

2011-06-27T23:13:00.001-04:00

I'm exhausted. Whew. Today was the first day of "vacation" and it was pretty full. I woke up to go grocery shopping at 6:30 am. And then the day kept getting busy from there. A trip to a junk store with my friend, working on wedding frames for Jill, spray painting, a walk and dinner out.

So I'll get right down to Mani Monday. I store all of my polish in a jewelry holder (both sides are filled)

And I have a stand that has all of the nail supplies I need. But there are a few things that I need EVERY time I do my nails. Enter this bucket.

It holds all of the essential supplies I need while doing my nails. And since this happens every few days, I like to keep it all together so I can be the most efficient. So this bucket includes:

Nail files

Buffer

OPI Base Coat

Washcloth that I use to when I smudge the sides. I've had this one a long time and you can tell. I wash it often, don't worry.

Out the Door Top Coat (Love this stuff)

Seche Vita Top Coat

Nail corrector pen

Having all the the major supplies definitely helps me. I don't have to go digging around to find the essential products from the drawers.

And since I've been spray painting and crafting it up on my day off, I don't have a good polish on today. This is the last mani I did last week. It's called Mezmerised and it's really blue. I do like it. It's kind of like Dating a Royal by OPI. It's pretty sassy.

I will definitely wear this again soon. Essie is quickly becoming my second favorite brand. I'm committed to OPI but Essie is GREAT.

What polish are you wearing?
Happy Monday!

In with the Old

2011-06-26T23:37:00.000-04:00

It's rare that I have a day that I don't get out of my pjs, but today was one of those days. I was a little down in the dumps so I stayed close to home and only left the house for a quick errand. I did have some projects I was working on and some cleaning to do. So that's what I did. Thrilling. I wanted to take a nap but didn't get to that. Or to finishing my book. Or grocery shopping.

I took a few fun pictures of "treasures" as I puttered around.

These skeleton keys are going to be used in a frame. I thought this was a cool picture though. They are laying on my back step. Maybe I'll take a good picture of this and frame it. Hmm.

I got this scale yesterday. I put it outside and put a plant on it. I think it looks very rustic and cute.

And I got a few new mason jars. I put some scrabble tiles in this one. I was going to write something on the tag but haven't gotten there yet. Maybe I'll do it sans tag. We'll see.

I'm happy that I have a mostly clean house now, even though I don't know where today went...

I hope you all had a great weekend!

iNeed

2011-06-25T23:33:00.002-04:00

I've had my iPhone for about two weeks. I love it. Love. Anyway, I was looking at the apple store for the Nike sensor so I can use my phone for a workout program, and I happened upon this...

Kate Spade New York Agenda case.

iLove it!

The end.

Happy Saturday!

Watermelon Wonders

2011-06-23T17:27:00.002-04:00

Back in February I had found a recipe for watermelon cookies (really they are sugar cookies) in a magazine (People Country September 2010) Of course, I saved it and filed it away for this summer. Thanks to my handy binder of ideas.

Aren't they cute in the picture? Love. love. love.

So I busted out the recipe for the party this week.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup shortening

3/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

Red food coloring

1/3 cup semisweet chocolate mini morsels

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1 1/2 to 2 tbsp water

Green food coloring

Directions:

1. Beat butter and shortening in a large mixing bowl at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating well. Add egg, milk and vanilla, mixing until blended.

2. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to butter mixture. Add a small amount of red food coloring to dough to color as desired. Beat on low speed until blended.

3. Shape dough into a ball; cover and chill at least 3 hours.

4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

I added a lot of red food coloring because I wanted them to be true watermelon color.

5. Divide dough in half; store one portion in refrigerator. Roll out remaining portion to 1/4 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut dough with a 3 inch round cookie cutter; cut each circle in half and place on parchment lined baking sheets.

6. Press several chocolate mini morsels into each cookie. Repeat with remaining dough.

7. Bake for 8-10 minutes (do not brown)

(I didn't have mini morsels so I had to cut the big chocolate chips-so not as cute)

8. In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and enough water to form a glaze; add a small amount of green food coloring.

9. Dip round edge of each cookie in green glaze and place on a wire rack until frosting is firm.

Okay, they aren't nearly as adorable as the picture in the magazine, but it was my first time making them so I'll forgive myself this time. I will definitely do these again. And next time, I think they will come out way better. But looks aside, they tasted pretty good. Can't go wrong with sugar cookies!

Have a great Thursday!

31 on 21

2011-06-22T22:21:00.002-04:00

Last night my friend Angie and I hosted a Thirty-One party at my house. You know how I love a theme party so this was a good excuse to have a summer themed party. I told you how I made (with the help of others) a lemonade stand, so I wanted to show you the final product. This was how the theme started. I wanted to see if I could make this.

It held the drinks (lemonade, of course). This is while we were setting up.

I found this little chalkboard at a yard sale for 5 cents. Go figure.

We drank our lemonade out of mason jars with ribbon.

Sabrina and Sara shopping and looking adorable!

Liz and her daughter checking out the products from Thirty-One.

The food was delicious. Angie made a great salad and strawberry shortcake. And I made the fruit salsa and the feta dip. Yum.

Some of our younger guests. Gotta start them going to these kind of parties young.

Busy shopping...

Sara, Sabrina and Angie enjoying some snacks.

We made our 31 consultant a little thank you. I am in love with this. It's strawberry hand soap and strawberry candies in a berry basket.

And we put this out for the guests. I took this to my office today. I think I'm going to keep this on my desk for the summer.

The basket with favors. I love the little chalkboard marker.

The favors were strawberry, lemon and fruit slices candy. The tag says: "there's nothing sweeter than summertime"

After everyone had finished shopping, eating and relaxing, Jill got out some wedding projects (she's storing some stuff at my house) and started putting together the seating chart frame. Jill's taping things to the back with the assistance of Gillian and Sabrina.

And just for the record, I broke the glass in part of the frame so I'll be going to Lowe's to get some new glass cut tomorrow. Ha. Whoops.

It was a fun night. We even had a few husbands stop by. I'd say it was a successful event, thanks to my co-host, Angie. I hope all my ladies had a good time. And thanks for giving me an excuse for the infamous lemonade stand.

HAHA.

Happy Wednesday!

A Fruity Treat

2011-06-21T23:30:00.001-04:00

This is the first time I've sat down all day. It's been a busy day. I will talk more about that it tomorrow but I wanted to share this recipe that I made tonight for the Thirty-One party. A few people asked me for the recipe for Fruit Salsa and instead of e-mailing it out, I'll share it here. And because it was that good.

Now, I want to be sure to tell you that I got this from a blog somewhere out there this last week. I honestly have no idea where I found it. I'm guilty of looking at about a million blogs and clicking out of them so quickly. I did copy the recipe before I clicked out of this particular blog. So if this is your recipe, thank you. Let's consider it paying it forward. Sharing is caring, right?

Okay, back to business. This Fruit Salsa is pretty amazing. I read the recipe and was kind of lukewarm about it. But after my first taste tonight, I thought it was delicious. Really truly, guilt free, delicious.

Ingredients:

1 carton strawberries (pulsed to chunky in a blender)

3 kiwis peeled and diced

1 pint blueberries (quartered)

2 apples peeled and diced.

Mix all together and chill until serving. It's a good idea to let it sit for several hours before serving just so it marinates.

Now you'll need something to dip into this fruity delightful-ness.

How about some Cinnamon & Sugar Tortilla Chips?

Spray a 10 pack of flour tortillas with spray butter and then sprinkle with a cinnamon/sugar mix. Bake at 400 degrees for about 7 minutes. Store in an airtight container or baggie if you aren't serving right away so that they stay crisp.

Here's a look at what was leftover after the guests left. I will be eating this at work tomorrow.

Please try this out. I promise you'll love it. I will be making this for any event I possibly can this summer.

What can I make it for next?

Happy Tuesday!

My Chihuahua Bites!

2011-06-20T23:42:00.002-04:00

I saw this color at the nail salon a few weeks ago and needed to have it. I actually forgot about it but then saw it the last time I got a pedicure so I was going to come home and order it. But then my friend, Jill ordered it for me. How nice. It came in on Friday and I got a pedicure with it that day. I matched my nails today. It's really a great summer color. The picture doesn't really show the coral tone to it. It's like a great mixture of orange, pink and red. I am pretty much a big fan. It may even be the kind of color I take off, and then reapply. Yes, in the same week. That's how much I like it.

What color are you wearing?

My Hero. My Dad.

2011-06-19T22:10:00.003-04:00

Today is Father's Day and I wish I was hanging out with my Dad today. He's a fun guy and I'm always happy to see him. Luckily, he came over last night to help me with a little project that I'm working on for a party I'm having this week.

Now let me explain that this project is not that serious. It's actually a little silly that I'm doing it. But I've always been a girl that gets an idea and CAN'T LET IT GO until it's done. And I will include (some may call it annoy) my friends and family in my little projects. Anyway, I decided I wanted to make a lemonade stand prop. Long story short, I needed some help with the construction of it. Not having power tools is kind of a problem when you want to build something. My Dad offered to come over to help me. He's a good Dad because he didn't really know what I was doing but he knows me well enough to know that I was going to bother someone until they helped me. HA.

So he brought over his drill and in five minutes he had done the job. BUT, I still didn't know how to attach another piece. So we went to Home Depot and got some wood to help. And since he really does know me better than anyone, he brought a saw with him because he wasn't sure what this project was going to entail.

And with his help, I now have a lemonade stand prop. I had painted the crate and the boards before he got there. It looks like a lemonade stand right?

And the reason I write about this today is because on Father's Day, I'd like to publicly thank him for helping me with all the crazy little projects I've done in my life. The thing I appreciate is that he doesn't even question why I'd be making a lemonade stand. He just helps me trouble shoot how to do it and helps make it happen. He's always done that for me. I wanted to do a ridiculous science project in 7th grade, and he didn't even question it, he just helped me make a really cool display. It won honorable mention, I might add. It shows how great he is. He just wants to help me succeed in doing anything I want to do. Even if it is just a random lemonade stand.

Happy Father's Day, Dad! I think you're the best and I wish I could get you this...

But for now, I took a picture for you. Ha!

I had so much fun hanging out with you last night. Happy Father's Day, Dad. xoxo

This and That

2011-06-18T23:37:00.000-04:00

I have been a slacker this week. As a blogger that is. I'm not sure that anything all that exciting happened all week. I've been getting some stuff done around the house and relaxing at night. I also hurt my Achilles tendon (at least I think that's what I did) so I've been trying to make that feel better so I can start running again. Oh, and playing with my iPhone. I'm pretty much in love with that phone. I don't miss my blackberry at all.

I took Friday off from work and spent the day running around. I had a dress fitting for my bridesmaid dress and then a pedicure with some friends. Then I headed over to Jill's house to dog sit for her dog Cedar and her parents dog, Isaac. They were all headed to a wedding out of town. So the boys and I had a nice weekend together.

Isaac and Cedar relaxing while I made favors for a party.

We got to bed early because I woke up early to go yard sales with Angie and Sabrina. There were a few good sales. My favorite thing of the day was this birdcage. This particular sale had lots of antique birdcages. I was hesitant at first (because of my lack of coffee) but I'm so glad I ended up getting this. I think it's great and I can't wait to clean it up and find a place for it.

And I found this cute chair for $5. I don't even need to do anything to it. It's probably going to go in an entry way or something.

And Sabrina gave me this for my "travel" room. She got it at a sale a few weeks ago while I was out of town. And Angie gave me the little table that it's sitting on. They are good to me.

After yard sailing, I came home to the pups and we went for a nice long walk. My Achilles started bothering me a little bit again. Ugh. But it was a beautiful day yesterday.

You can't really see them but Isaac and Cedar are running side by side.

Cedar's saying...hurry up!

After dinner, my Dad came over to my house and we worked on a little project. I'll tell you about that tomorrow.

It's been a great weekend so far. It's nice to spend some quality time doing low key things and playing with cute puppies!

Happy Saturday!

Party in my Cabana

2011-06-13T23:41:00.001-04:00

It's Mani Monday again. I can't believe it's been a week since the fake nail trial. Weird. Unfortunately, I'm not wearing anything new and exciting. But I am wearing something I haven't worn in a long time. Party in my Cabana by OPI. I love this color. It's a little more pink than the picture shows. It's a great color for any time of the year but I think it's fun in the summer. And great for a pedicure too.

It's funny that I'm wearing a summery color and it's actually kind of chilly here. But you know what they say--Think Pink and Be Happy! :)

What color are you wearing?

What Weekend?

2011-06-12T23:49:00.000-04:00

This weekend went by super fast, as most do. But this one went more quickly than I wanted it to. I was looking forward to getting stuff done and relaxing a lot.

On Friday night, Jill, Gillian and I started a project for Jill's wedding. She needs white frames for each of the tables at her reception but Michaels only had a certain number so she decided to paint black ones white. After we enjoyed some dinner, we came back and got to work.

Here are the frames before....

First we had to apply the liquid sandpaper. Jill and Gillian were super excited about this.

Gillian hard at work.

Jill was pretty proud of herself and kept wanting the liquid sandpaper to have more "grit"

Since we ate dinner, we lost some daylight for this project. We had to spray paint in the dark with the help of Jill's phone flashlight. I'd like to note that neither of these ladies had ever spray painted before. I felt the need to document this historic event in their lives.

The frames are all on my front porch awaiting the second coat of paint. The rain prevented us from finishing this project. Bummer.

Saturday was spent working at Orientation on campus followed by a trip to Bath and Body Works for the semi annual sale. I stocked up. And then it was time for a night of laying down watching some TV and an early bedtime.

This morning, I woke up and headed to get groceries and a few other errands. While I was in BJs, I stopped by the Verizon kiosk to gaze at the phones. I'm not sure why, because my upgrade isn't until December. But I did it and the lady there informed me that for only $20, I could upgrade to the iPhone early. I was tempted, but needed to think it through. So I asked her to put the phone aside and I'd let her know. I came home, put the groceries away and thought about it. After a few hours, I decided I would go back and get it. The pros definitely outweighed the cons.

So I said goodbye to my beloved blackberry and hello to this little cutie.

And since accessories are important, this is the cover I chose. Try not to be jealous. haha.

So far, I think I'm in love! It's really easy to use and the camera is way better than the bberry one. Plus, I wanted a new iPod, so I got that today too. Thanks Verizon...I'm glad you got on board with the iPhone.

After I finished up at Verizon, I got ice cream with some friends and came home to realize that I need more hours in the day for all the fun things I have going on. But for now I'm headed to bed to dream of fun things!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Basket--O-- Supplies

2011-06-08T23:28:00.004-04:00

Once summer starts and the students leave campus, I always find myself spending a lot of time organizing things in my life. Well, okay, that's not completely true. I like to organize ANYTIME. But it's been especially true in the last few weeks.

Today's inspiration was this basket. I think I got it at a yard sale last year. I was going to use it in my bathroom for brushes and other bathroom trinkets but I found something better at some point. I was pulling it out to get rid of it when I realized a great way to use it. I think I did use it for a party once to put the napkins and utensils in...but that seems so ordinary.

I brought it in the office and decided I was going to use it as an office supply caddy. I have a lot of student leaders that work with me on various programs and often "borrow" my stapler, scissors, tape, etc. Sadly, I might not see some of these items again. This is frustrating to my office supply budget and my "control issues" over my office supplies. ha ha. I'm not THAT bad but I really like my stapler and my tape dispenser. Anyway, I figured I'd make a basket of goodies that are portable for the students and for me. And it has everything I might need when I leave the office for a program or event. (tape, stapler, extra staples, scissors, highlighters, markers, ruler, paper clips, blue tape, post it notes, etc)

And it all fits so nice and neatly in the caddy. And it sits on a shelf ready to go. If I had kids, I'd do a home addition too. :)

And YES, I know posting about this makes me a little bit of a nerd. I 'm okay with that. We all are nerds about something. And I think being an organized nerd has a certain charm to it...

Happy Wednesday!

Lily Love

2011-06-07T23:15:00.000-04:00

Today kitty heaven got a new friend. My parents cat, Lily passed away. I got a facebook message from my Dad letting me know. Immediate tears followed. I've always been really attached to the animals in my life and though I haven't lived at home in a LONG time, I still remember cuddling up with this cat and what she meant to me.

Lily's story with my family began after we moved to New Mexico. I was REALLY sad about being in NM. We had just moved from Germany and I was scheduled to go to college in NY. But I was so beside myself being back in the states, that I decided to move to NM to go to college there for a year to figure out if NY was really where I wanted to be. But after one day in the hot NM sun, I was pretty sure I hated it there. Looking back, I don't think it was as much the state but more of my state of mind. I was just so sad about leaving my boyfriend, my friends and everything I knew. I started college living in temporary living quarters (on the base) and was miserable.

One day we heard meowing outside and my mom discovered a very tiny little kitten in the HOT sun. It was August. She brought the kitten inside and we fed it and gave it water. Our other cat, Tiger was boarded because we weren't allowed to have pets in the TLQ. My Dad got home from work and he started off saying no to the idea of having another cat. But it was too late. My mom, brother and I were in love. We all pleaded the case but I was particularly dramatic. I NEEDED to have that cat. She was going to be my reason for being happy in a time that I was anything but happy. My Dad caved and we had ourselves a little kitten. And since we had a cat named Tiger the obvious choice for a name would be Lily.

Here is a very small Lily when we moved into the house in NM. I think we were unpacking when this picture was taken. She was even smaller when we found her.

She was a wild kitten. Naughty. But for those first few difficult months in New Mexico, she was the bright spot for me. And probably for a few other people in my family too.

Even though she had a long happy life with my parents, I'm sad to hear about her passing. I will never forget her and how she helped me during a difficult transition in my life. It's a reminder of how quickly time passes because it doesn't feel like that day we found a kitten in the sun was all that long ago.

My hope is that Lily is now back to pestering Tiger. Just like she did that one summer in New Mexico....

Mani Monday

2011-06-06T19:02:00.061-04:00

I have wanted to try something new at the Lipgloss Lounge for awhile now. So two days a week I'm going to have themes. Mondays are going to be dedicated to manicures. And Thursdays I'm going to follow my friend Courtney's lead and do what I'm thankful for. I really feel like blogging is helping me feel better after the drama of the last year. I know my blog isn't the edge of your seat kind that are out there. That's fine with me. When I started it a few years ago I wanted it to be "girl talk" that I would share with my friends/family--random thoughts, things I like, and events in my life. And I've really enjoyed posting all of my randomness.

So here begins my first Mani Monday. Some of you are very familiar with my Nail Polish Nook on Facebook. I post every color nail polish I own so I can keep a visual file. A few friends have mentioned that they have referred to it when looking for a color. Good. Justification for my addiction. Thanks ladies!

Today, I'm not actually featuring a color though. Instead I wanted to test run something for Jill's wedding next month. I have giving some thought to what color I am going to wear on my nails. That's just about as important as the shoes I'm wearing (which are HOT, by the way). I thought maybe I'd be traditional and get tips with a french manicure. I used to have tips on a regular basis but haven't done it in years. But tonight someone told me to try it myself and purchase...wait for it....

FAKE NAILS.

From the Dollar General.

I stopped on the way home tonight and for under $5 I got these fake jobs and some glue.

And instead of taking that nap that I intended on taking, I applied them. In under 15 minutes.

I have to say, I'm kind of impressed with them. I mean, I'm not going to do this on a regular basis but I think it'll be fine for the wedding.

And for under $5--It's going to be way more economical than getting tips put on for only a few days.

What do you think?

Happy Mani Monday (next week I'll wow you with a fab new color)!

Weekend Wonders

2011-06-05T22:26:00.000-04:00

This weekend was definitely a good one. I had a VERY stressful week leading up to it so I was excited to get away for my friend Jill's bachelorette weekend. She's getting married in less than a month now and all of her girls gathered at this amazing place a few hours from here for a weekend of relaxing together. Sounds great, right? It was.

The front of the house.

The back of the house

The kitchen

The other half of the kitchen. I'm a fan of the kind of kitchen with couches. Perfect for hanging out.

The front porch. I sat out there with coffee and a magazine this morning. It was lovely.

Each bedroom was totally bed and breakfast style. A little tacky but quaint. I loved the one Gillian and I slept in.

This is the view of the back area.

The pool was up the hill on the property. How great is this?

The cabana for the pool. Complete with a fridge, bathroom, shower, stereo, etc.

Our friend Alisha came on Saturday to hang out. We spent the entire day out by the pool. It was a perfect Saturday.

After it got dark and we all rested, we spent the night playing cards, laughing and having fun. Well, I slept on the couch but I was fully supportive of the fun. haha.

The flowers were picked on the property. So lovely.

We even had a dog for the night. His name is Guinness and he was the neighbor dog but spent the night with us. What a sweet dog. He was sad when we left today.

Another shot of my room. That wallpaper is intense.

Oh, and there was a hot tub on the porch for us. We spent this morning in there since it wasn't sunny.

And there was a tandem bike. How fun.

There were two brave souls to try the tandem bike thing.

The last four to leave. Jill, Ashley, me and Gillian.

All in all, this weekend was amazing, relaxing, and one to remember.

Cheers to Jill for her upcoming wedding and her birthday (today)!

How was your weekend?

Rockin

2011-06-02T09:52:00.001-04:00

I posted a picture of my back porch on Monday and one of the things on the porch is now is a rocking chair. I really enjoy this chair. I got it last summer at a yard sale for $15. It sat inside unused for the last year and I decided it needed to be used. But first had to give it a little makeover.

Before:

This celery color was fine but I wanted to freshen it up.

I had used this color on another project and I enjoyed it so I got a few more cans for the rocking chair.

I dragged it out to the front yard and got to work. I wonder how annoyed my neighbors are about my spray painting.

Drying after a few coats of paint:

After

It looks pretty good. I really enjoy the color and can't wait to sit out there with a book.

I'm loving the yard sale makeovers happening in my life lately. It's so fun to find a treasure and give it new life. Next I need to find a desk and a bookshelf...

Happy Thursday!

Crafty-ness

2011-06-01T08:49:00.001-04:00

I was feeling really productive and crafty this weekend. I had found this blog post here and wanted to make one for myself. I thought it was a great idea. I went out to some yard sales and junk store to find the supplies:

Candlesticks that were painted a flat black.

3 old cake pans (small, medium and large)

Used some e-600 glue to attach it all.

Turn the second candlestick opposite of the first one.

And boom. A three tiered stand. I'm not sure what I'm going to use it for but it's going to be great.

A very easy project. Thanks to the Crafting Chicks for giving me the inspiration.

M Day

2011-05-30T22:58:00.000-04:00

I know Memorial Day is more than nice weather, BBQs and fun so I want to start off with saying that I appreciate all the people that defend our country and the ones that have given their lives in that pursuit.

Today was a lovely day. I usually attend a parade but it wasn't in the cards this year. Instead I spent the morning drinking a big coffee and getting some of my projects done. I was wildly productive. I adore mornings spent organizing and doing stuff at home. I'm finding with the close of the last chapter of my life, I actually want to be at home, in my own space. It's so nice to concentrate my own world again.

Anyway, I have been going to yard sales with some friends on Saturday mornings and I pretty much use my back porch as a storage area until I do the projects that I bought stuff for. BUT, I couldn't take it. The entrance to my house is through this back porch and it was so awful looking. It really started to look like an episode of hoarders.

Before

After

I actually have a few before/after posts to do just on this alone but I wanted to give you an overview of what the back porch looks like now. I wanted to add a rocking chair so I could actually sit out there on a rainy day and read. ( Note the screen hanging on the wall. That will be a later post because I have to finish my vision for that at some point.) I also need to paint the table to coordinate. The best part of this is that everything for this was under $20 thanks to yard sales last summer and this. I can't wait to finish up but it's WAY better than before.

My favorite part of this "vignette" is the crate. I added a coat of spray paint so that it looks a little weathered. I'm going to add some different plants to it but for now I put the flowers from the graduation ceremony on there (and added the flag in honor of today). I think some green plants will look great on this.

After I finished a few other projects (stay tuned), I went out to our campus lake for the afternoon with Jill, Gillian and Cedar. It was so hot but wonderful. I don't swim in this lake (too much stuff floating in it for my taste) but I like being near the water. Cedar had a great time swimming though.

We then headed over to a different lake for a BBQ with Jill's parents. They house sit for people that live out of state so they are there often. It's a really lovely place. The weather was outstanding and the view was so relaxing.

Here is the house (with Jill and Gillian) It's so cute. I wish I could live here.

Here the ladies are by the hot tub.

We stayed until it was dark and headed home (it's only 10 minutes away). It turned out to be a really great, relaxing day. I feel more like myself than I have in months, thankfully.

I hope that you all had a great weekend!

Caps, Gowns, and Memories

2011-05-29T23:06:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was graduation at the college I work at. It's a day I really look forward to for many reasons. Selfishly, it means the campus will be empty for a few months and I can have some quiet office time. But more importantly, I look forward to this day because I like watching the students have this moment that they've worked for four years. This year, I felt a little sad too. Again, selfishly because I will miss seeing a few of my favorite students on a daily basis. There are lots of students that come and go but there are always a few that I feel extra proud to have known.

Me and LBL before the ceremony. Awful picture of me but regalia is never cute. blah.

SC and I after the ceremony.

My favorite part of the graduation ceremony? The bagpipes. If I ever get married, I want bagpipes at my wedding.

During the entire ceremony, I had to stand in the isle to help with crowd control. This ceremony was about 2 hours. But my feet felt like it was 7. While I was watching the students walk across the stage to receive their degrees, I started thinking about my own graduations and remembering how I felt during each ceremony. All of them were slightly boring so I don't remember much about the actual ceremony. What I do remember is the excitement, the anxiety, and the pride I felt in my school and my classmates. And at each one I was wondering where my parents were in the crowd and hoping they were proud of me. I felt like today would be a good time to walk down my memory lane....

At HS graduation. I sat in the front row because I was a reader of parent letters. I was so excited this day but also so anxious about how my life was about to change. I was moving back from Germany to the states and I was never going to see most of my 64 classmates again. But I felt proud when I walked across the stage and they announced my post high school plans of going to college and becoming an elementary teacher.

On my college graduation day. Yes, I did get a teaching degree proudly from the same school that my grandmother and other family members attended. What I remember clearly about this day was getting up really early, sitting on the front steps of my residence hall where I was an RA and painting my nails in an effort to forget how hungover I was already. I went out like a rock start the night before. For a few minutes I thought I might be too sick to walk through graduation but I pulled through. I was super excited to be a college graduate but I was really sad that college was over. And I remember being really annoyed with the lining up of graduates in the student union and vowed that I would never walk through my masters ceremony.

But what did I know. Six years after I graduated from college, I once again put on a black robe and added a hood to my regalia. I remember being really happy to be done with my master's degree and laughing a lot with my cohort during the ceremony. I remember feeling really proud to have graduated from Syracuse because I know my dad was happy about that. I was also anxious about the future. But that day, it was about my friends and the laughter that got us through the last two years. It was nice because we had a cohort reception with our families.

Me and Dad

Every year I'm lucky to watch a new batch of students graduate and have their own moment. I see the same excitement, anxiety and pride in their faces and I can't help but smile with a tear in my eye because these are the moments and feelings that they'll tell in the story of their graduation day.

What do you remember most about your graduation days?

Wribbon Wreath

2011-05-28T19:40:00.001-04:00

I know I spelled ribbon wrong on the title. I thought I was being clever. Ha. Whatever, I'm tired. Today was graduation so I had to stand for 3 hours in regalia. I need a nap, but I felt like to finally posting pictures of this project. It started a few months ago. A few friends ordered ribbon from ebay or etsy or something (I don't know, Angie was in charge of that) and we were going to get together and do these wreaths together. I'm pretty sure there was still snow on the ground when we started this.

Anyway, the ribbon came in and months we spent one night cutting all the ribbon and made loops secured by a dab of hot glue. That took about an hour or so. I'm pretty sure the wine I drank whilst doing this project kept me entertained. Fast forward to a few weeks ago and we finally got around to finishing.

Basically, we took the aforementioned ribbon loops and glued them on a wreath form randomly. Here it is as I was getting started. Wine was in order for this part too. That definitely helped with the burns I received from the hot glue gun.

This is the finished product. It now lives on my office door. It's definitely a bright and fun addition for the summer.

I should make another for the fall. Judging by how long this one took to complete, I better get started now...

After I take a nap.

Happy Saturday!

Feta is Betta

2011-05-27T20:01:00.001-04:00

This week, my friend Sabrina (poppies and pinwheels) had a 31 party. I have never been to one of those so I was excited to go check it out. The stuff is cute. I'll share my treasures when they come in.

Anyway, I decided to try out a new recipe and bring it over to the party. I found this recipe on a blog but I can not find it now to give the proper credit. So if this is a recipe from your blog and you happen to read this, I'm giving you full credit. I love feta cheese so when I saw this, I really needed to try it.

Feta Dip--What You Need:

olive oil
1 block of feta cheese
3 tomatoes
1 bunch green onions
3 tsp. Greek seasoning
1 baguette

What To Do:

1. Wet large platter generously with olive oil

2. Dice green onions and tomatoes

3. Throw them on the olive oil

4. Crumble feta cheese and throw them on the platter too

5. Sprinkle the Greek seasoning on top (yes, there is actually Greek seasoning--I never knew)

6. Mix it all together gently on the platter

7. Slice baguette thinly for dipping.

8. Enjoy!

And that's it. Easy. My critique--I think I was too generous with the oil. Next time I'll use less. Otherwise, I really liked it and will make it again for the next party. And it's perfect for snacking with a glass of wine in hand. Thanks to the blogger that shared it first and thanks to Sabrina for having a party that allowed me to try it out!!

Happy Friday! What are your weekend plans?

SBA

2011-05-26T23:47:00.003-04:00

In the last week, not much has changed and yet, it has. About a week ago, I realized the truth about a person that I thought was a good guy. A good friend. Turns out, he was never really my friend at all and I wasted a very long two years thinking about him and hoping we'd get to a different point. And strangely, as sad as that makes me, I'm a little bit relieved. Now there is no wondering. Now I know for sure. As much as it stings a little right now, I believe my heart will heal and I'll be thankful one day. Since last Thursday I've been re framing things and looking for the good in all of the things that I've been feeling lately.

So you can imagine my delight when I was doing my daily blog reading, I discovered that my friend, Allison from Life in the Slow Lane, had given me the Stylish Blogger Award!

Awesome.

I never think of myself as stylish but I'm flattered if someone out there does. So for this award I'm supposed to share some of my fashion dos/don'ts.

I will share two things I believe in strongly. I believe in classic, simple clothes. I love dresses. I love heels. I feel like that always makes someone pulled together. I really believe that good accessories can enhance any outfit. A simple black dress can be sassy with a headband, cute shoes, a fun bag and good costume jewelry.

Like this little guy. I got him for $1.50 at an "antique/junk" store. I really loved the stone. Adds a little sass.

And my most important belief in my style is always have freshly painted nails. I think it looks like an effort was made. And chipped nails are ever acceptable. Ever.

(I'm currently wearing Planks A lot by OPI)

And I'm supposed to pass this on. I'd like to pass it on to one of my favorite people to talk about style/fashion with: Cristina from Pinkhouse Press. She has style and class and will certainly have some fun tips for us!

This was fun! Thanks, Allison for the shout out! :)

The Shoe Fits.

2011-05-23T23:34:00.001-04:00

I've had lots of shoes in my lifetime. Many I've really enjoyed. Some I haven't really cared for. Some I only wore once or twice, some that I held on to for too long. Many that I couldn't wait to wear, and some I was sad to see go. But every once in awhile there is a pair that is so good that you never get over them .

(This metaphor also represents the boys that have been in my life too)

Meet my current-can't-get-over-pair.

Nothing fancy. Black wedges from payless. But they were so good the first time I got them 2 years ago, I have replaced them 3 times. And I'm about to get another pair to make sure I have them for the whole summer. Oh, and I did get them in denim this year too.

I know it's not forever, but for now, they are exactly what I'm looking for.

(Let's hope this is what I'll be saying about a new boy soon too)

Happy Monday!

ManiCute!

2011-05-19T20:51:00.002-04:00

I still don't have a lot of good news to report but I know the show has to go on. So I'll share something fun from last week. My St. Jude rep, Courtney came to campus last Sunday to do a retreat with our group. I wanted to get her a little something for doing that. So I decided to put together a little gift "basket".

I started out with a cute little dish that I picked up at a yard sale. I saw it and immediately thought it was perfect for a manicure dish.

I picked up some supplies for a little manicure session (nail polish remover, files, buffer, clippers, lotion and nail polish--of course)

...added a little tissue paper to the dish and put the supplies in.

and wrapped it up with a bow!

I loved it because it's exactly the kind of little gift that I'd like to get. And the nail color...too too hot by essie. Just like Courtney. :)

Tired

2011-05-17T22:36:00.000-04:00

Normally I don't like to write about my feelings but I need to because I'm tired. Physically and mentally.
I'm just tired....

...of the rain.
...of my clothes
...of feeling angry at everything.
...of never feeling like my house is clean enough.
...of missing people.
...of feeling awful about my job.
...of not trusting people.
...of having a broken heart. that keeps getting broken.
...of my stupid tire being flat.
...of crying.
...of feeling old and gross.
...of wondering.
...of waking up worrying about things I can't control.
...of feeling guilty.
...of not having fun.
...of not feeling cute.
...of not believing.
...of facebook.
...of conversations that never happen.
...of being jealous and insecure.
...of not blogging about anything.
...of never getting anything done for real.
...of not laughing as much as I used to.
...of not being funny.
...of my phone not ringing.
...of the stack of books I haven't read because I'm tired.
...of trying to pretend I'm not feeling any of these things.

How's that for keeping it real? It is what it is. This blog is supposed to be stuff I'd talk about with my friends, so that's what I'm feeling.

I'm going to get some sleep.

A Great One

2011-05-12T21:12:00.044-04:00

I feel really lucky that in my life I've gotten to spend time with women in my family that are pretty incredible. Today I went to honor one of those women at her funeral, Aunt Velma. Velma was my Dad's aunt (my grandfather's sister). So that made her my Great Aunt. And she was. I know many people don't really know their Great Aunts and Uncles. And I have lots of them. But really the only two that I've ever had in my life on a consistent basis were my Aunt Velma and her sister Aunt Marian.

Aunt Velma was a teacher and a historian. She was passionate about education. I'm proud that I attended the same college as her. I was always impressed that she actually knew some of the people that buildings on campus are named after. As I got older, I realized what a truly good person she was. She was a good christian woman to the core. So many people in my life have claimed that but she didn't really have to try to claim that because it was evident in how she lived her life. She was always sweet to me and wanted to hear how I was. Even in her declining health, she would squeeze my hand and tell me how good it was to see me and that I must come again to see her soon.

Here she was last summer celebrating her 95th birthday with friends and family!

Here I am with Aunt Marian and Aunt Velma on the 4th of July last year.

Aunt Velma passed away in her sleep on May 7th at age 95. Although, it's sad that she's no longer here with us and she'll never squeeze my hand again, I feel really lucky that I got to know her and that I can always treasure those moments I got to spend with my GREAT Aunt. Because she was great, indeed.

Flat Stan's Oneonta Adventures

2011-05-05T16:32:00.001-04:00

Flat Stanley came to visit me for about a week from my friend Allison's son. I was really excited to show him around town and have him do some fun activities.

Flat Stan arrives. He was pretty tired because he came fromVegas.

He rested for a bit and then we both tried some bubble tea for the first time.

We played with a guiding eyes for the blind puppy in training, Katie. Isn't she cute?

Stan joined us for a dinner at Friendly's. Here he is with Jill. (They made friends)

He clowned around with the "interesting" art at Friendly's.

He attended a Student Senate meeting. These are the student government leaders at Hartwick. They make lots of decisions about things on campus.

He wanted a group shot with some of the senators.

He also attended an All Greek Council meeting. These are representatives from all of our Fraternities/Sororities on campus.

He attended an Etiquette Dinner for seniors. At this dinner, we learned about proper etiquette to use when dining with business associates. Stanley learned a lot! Ask him what to do with your napkin when you use the restroom.

He was the only male in attendance at the Royal Sleepover at Club Chestnut (or Castle Chestnut if you prefer). Here he is getting ready to get some sleep before the wedding with Sara and Jill.

Here he is getting into the spirit by posing with the Duke and Dutchess!

He hung out with Gillian to watch some of the wedding, too.

We rested after the wedding but then the rest of the weekend, was BUSY. Oneonta and Hartwick (the two colleges in town) host a big concert in the park called OH Fest. Here he is dancing with Jill to the Michael Jackson tribute band!

Enjoying the crowd and fun before the main act: Pitbull!

After the concert, we enjoyed some Sal's pizza--my favorite pizza in town!

We woke up early the next day to go over to Oneonta State. Here he is posing with the building that I used to work in and the building that my friend Allison was an RA in. Good ol' Tobey Hall!

And for good measure he wanted to take a picture with the little flag on the lamp post.

The weather was so nice that we went for a hike up to Tablerock. Stanley LOVED the view!

He wanted to pose by the Strawberry Field sign.

Another view from our walk. This is with Oneonta State in the background.

Stan and I hanging out!

Stanley was excited to hang out with a sorority at the Greek neighborhood picnic. Here he is with the ladies of Gamma Phi Delta.

Stanley visited the vet with Jill's dog, Cedar. I think Stan may be considering a career as a veterinarian.

Before we knew it, our time together was over. Here he was saying goodbye to Club Chestnut before he traveled back home.

Thanks for visiting, Stan! I hope you had fun in O-town!

Treasures

2011-05-03T23:29:00.001-04:00

It's definitely feeling more like spring now. Besides getting to wear cute dresses with no tights again, I went to my first yard sale this past weekend. Oh, and stopped by a junk store. Here are the treasures I picked up:

The window is actually from a few years ago. Angie, Sabrina and I were driving past a house and saw them sitting outside. Long story short, the guy gave us three of them so we each took one. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet but it's gonna be something cute.

I also found the turkey platter for $3. I always wanted a turkey platter....though I'm not sure why because I've cooked a turkey. Maybe I will this year. Maybe I will.

The orange vase is going to be a fall vase. I love the color.

Perhaps my favorite item is the plate. I think I'm going to weave cute ribbon through it and maybe put sort of monogram or something in the middle. I got two so I may use one as a fun serving plate too.

But this got me thinking about the projects I need to do this summer. Things such as:

spray painting the chest (in the above picture)
painting the wicker furniture and rocker from last summer
painting my bathroom
finding a new desk and bookshelf for the "weird" room
painting the weird room
cleaning up the front yard and making it not such a hot mess
cleaning out the storage room, closets, and anything I don't need in my life

Whew. I can't wait until the summer!

Happy Tuesday!

May I?

2011-05-01T23:45:00.003-04:00

I can't believe it's MAY! That means that it's almost time for the school year to wind down. That's music to my ears. This past weekend was BUSY. After the royal sleepover I spent Friday relaxing. Saturday was spent at OH Fest (kind of spring weekend style day) During the afternoon, there is a street carnival on Main Street. Here is Jill and I with a student. He works for both of us and for the record, he wanted us to pose like this. haha.

In the evening at the park is a big concert. This year the performer was Pitbull. It was a good concert and the students seemed to enjoy it. Gillian, Jill and I watched from backstage for a bit. It was cold!

On Sunday, I helped conduct a sorority ritual for my chapter and then headed to a Greek BBQ at the park for a minute before attending a banquet for the Residence Life staff. It was fun! Here I am with one of the RAs on campus. He's a funny guy. I'll miss him next year! By the time I got home I was exhausted.

And although it was busy, it was nice to have three days off in a row to catch my breath before the end of the year draws near.

Castle Chestnut

2011-04-29T18:19:00.000-04:00

Today was the big day for a certain British couple.

Oh, and the other billions of people watching.

And for me, the best seat in the house was my living room at Castle Chestnut with several of my friends. We all had a busy day yesterday so we gathered for the royal sleepover at about 10 pm and spent some time hanging out before we dragged a mattress into the living room, claimed our respective spots and got a few hours of sleep before the alarm clocks woke us up at 4 am.

Before everyone arrived the proper decorations were set out for the morning. I framed a picture of the couple (from a magazine) and set out tea cups for each guest with a variety of teas.

In each tea cup was a Prince of Wales tea bag and a bottle of bubbles. This was the favor. I just loved the tea cups I found at an antique place and was really excited to find the tea.

This was the centerpiece of the table. The extra bubbles were placed in the bird nest thing I made for Easter. I just took out the eggs and replaced with the champagne bubbles.

The tea choices

I framed a bunch of postcards from London.

Sara and Jill reading up on the royal couple before bed. Oh, and Flat Stanley was with us too (more on that in another post)

Gillian and Flat Stanley cuddled up on the couch.

Even Sadie wanted to be a part of the slumber party. She and Gillian shared the couch.

Oh this is random but I'm suddenly into cucumber water so I picked up this dispenser while I was at the store yesterday. We needed to stay hydrated, after all.

All in all, I thought the wedding was lovely. The gown was beautiful. The atmosphere was uplifting. It was fun to mark a moment in popular culture with friends. And someday when we watch their children get married, we can remember where we were on this day.

And I think that no matter how old we are or where we come from, the little girl in each us still likes to believe in happily ever after...

Have a lovely weekend!

Bubbles

2011-04-26T23:09:00.002-04:00

Have you heard there is a royal wedding this week? Yes. It's true. You can't watch any channel without hearing about it. It's a good thing that I CAN'T WAIT so it doesn't annoy me in the least. Although I'm getting kind of tired of speculating on the dress...we'll find out soon enough. I'm sure it'll be stunning. I'm more interested in finding out what title these two will receive that day from the Queen.

I can't believe it's already Tuesday night. I have been busy this week already and I'm tired. Really tired. So this post will be brief. But I wanted to share something I tried today for the first time.

Bubble Tea.

Have you heard of this? I hadn't until about 3 months ago.

Two students brought me one today because I had mentioned that I was very curious about it. My assessment--it's definitely interesting. Tea with tapioca balls in it. At first glance, it looks like iced coffee with chocolate in it. That would be tasty.

Except that it's tea. So it doesn't taste anything like coffee. The tea tasted good. The strange part was the tapioca balls coming up through the straw. The texture of the balls is like gummy bears. But it doesn't taste like gummy bears at all. Not a lot of flavor, but chewy. Very chewy.

I am fascinated by this. I definitely want to drink it again. Maybe they'd take my gummy bear suggestion too.

What are your thoughts about bubble tea?

Eggcellent Weekend

2011-04-24T23:38:00.000-04:00

I got a lot of me time this weekend. I spent Saturday doing girly things and went to WW and to my get my hair cut. I always look forward to my hair appointments. I like my hair stylist and I love going to the salon because they all know me since I buy most of my nail polish from them. And I really needed to have my hair played with yesterday. Since that was the only thing I had to do for the day, I spent some time shopping solo. I came home and was pleasantly surprised by a phone call. Then I spent the evening watching TV in bed with some wine (discovering Moscato has changed my life). I was so relaxed that I didn't end up going out like I had wanted to. I was in bed by midnight. HA. So much for my social life on a Saturday night.

Today was Easter and since I had spent the last two days doing errands, I spent the day relaxing at home. I wanted to go to church but it's not as nice to go alone on a holiday. I remember when I used to be excited about going to church with a pretty Easter dress on. I'll do that again someday. Maybe next year I'll host an Easter dinner.

But here is what Easter at Club Chestnut looked like..

I gave out these fun treats to my friends at work (and a few others not at work). My friend, Angie, found it on a blog. I'm not sure which blog so I'm giving a general shout out to the person that created this. Thanks, they were super cute! It says "Happy Easter to one of my favorite Peeps" I gave them out on Thursday since I didn't work on Friday.

This afternoon I colored some eggs while I watched a movie.

Gracie was very curious about what was going on.

The finished product displayed in my basket that I recently picked up at a craft fair. It looks like a nest. I love it! Of course I added some grass to make it even more nest like.

And since the Easter Bunny seemed to miss my house, I chose my own basket contents this year.

You may remember that I have been wanting nude shoes. I found a pair at Payless--much to my surprise.

Here are what they look like on. I can't wait to wear them. Maybe this week...

And the Easter Bunny decided that I needed to get a few new tops. I love the color of this. Oh, and I got a cute bubble hemmed skirt to go with it.

And this one is sheer and flowy. I just love the color.

I treated myself to Chinese for dinner tonight and have layed on the couch. It's been a nice relaxing weekend. I wish I could have a few more days off but I'm pretty excited that it's only a 4 day work week due to the royal wedding (I took Friday off). By the way, I got some cute things for that event...can't wait to share with you.

I hope you all had a nice Easter and spent it doing things you love to do!

Dinner for Six

2011-04-22T21:49:00.000-04:00

Well, I finally took a much needed mental health day today. It's been another busy week and I finally hit the point that I knew I needed to be away from the office or I'd be really snotty to a student. I actually spent the day running around town doing some errands. Fun errands. I'll show you the result of those errands later next week. I actually have stayed home tonight to lay around, watch TV, and putter around the house. I needed a break from life. It's been a good day.

Like I said, the week was busy but last night I went to a little dinner party hosted at Sara and her husband Josh's house. I actually supervise Sara at work. She's amazing! I feel like I got lucky to work with her. Josh is hilarious. And together they are probably the most entertaining couple I've ever met. She's been working with us since September and they have been working on their house so this is the first time she's invited work people over. It was such a nice night with Jill, Gillian, Tara, Josh and Sara. We laughed a lot and had a lovely meal and enjoyed some wine. And of course the camera came out to document the fun.

The table before we sat down. I thought it looked pretty.

Sara, Josh and Jill showing the delicious food. Josh is quite the cook.

Gillian and I enjoying our after dinner tea.

Sara and her little baby Ziggy. Sara has a southern accent and it's great but it's even better when she's baby talking to her kitty.

I uploaded the pictures out of order but this was the tea that I tried last night. I loved it so much that I went out today and got some. It's smells so good and it tastes delicious. I forgot about how much I love drinking tea. I'm going to incorporate into my life more.

It really was a lovely night. We are all so busy--it's nice to take time to relax and just enjoy laughing with friends over food and drinks.

And to end my very nice day away from reality, I'm going to make myself a cup of my new tea and read my new book before bed. So far, it's hilarious.

I actually feel great to stay home tonight and relax. Last night and today are exactly what I need to recharge my attitude.

Have a great weekend!

Oh the Places...

2011-04-17T23:49:00.003-04:00

It's been awhile. I had a busy week...it's was Greek Week so that meant I was on campus for events every night (including Friday and Saturday). Sometimes as much as I hate working so much, I am thankful for the distraction from other things. Keeping busy saves me.

I did get to go to Hobby Lobby with Jill on Saturday evening. She needed to do some wedding errands at craft stores so I was glad to go. I picked up a few cute things too. I wish we had a Hob Lob and a Michael's here in town. It would be great....sigh. I'm excited to see her make progress with wedding stuff. You know how I love a party and the prep for it!

And when I have a lot of icky real life stuff happening, I like to find projects to keep me busy so I'm currently giving some thought to how I'd like to redo a room in my apartment. Currently, I've got an idea for the "weird room" It's really the office/library, but it doesn't have a door so it's just an open space. I'd like a new desk in there and I want some more bookshelves but I haven't found what I'm looking for yet. But I'm pretty sure I've decided on the theme in there...Travel. Here are some things I'm starting with...

I got this vintage print map for under $5 on amazon. I just got it this week and I'm pleased with it.

And I'm going to incorporate this old globe that I got from a yard sale last summer.

I would generally never support something like this as decor but I got this Dutch doll when I was in high school. And since I went to high school in Holland, it's special to me. Look at the little wooden shoes.

The new Paris plates will be perfect for this room too.

And this brings me to another project for the room. I have an album holding all of the postcards that I've collected from every place I've been. I want to be able to display them in a creative, classy way. I have been trying to look for ideas but nothing brilliant yet. If you have ideas, let me know.

I'd also like to get some of the prints that my Dad has of tulips in Holland too. I always loved those.

I think this theme is perfect for an office/library. But even with a theme, I'm still going to refer to it as the "weird room". It adds character.

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Treats & Tags

2011-04-13T23:29:00.001-04:00

This morning I got up early to make some dog treats for Jill's dog, Cedar's 5th birthday party. Yes, I did say a doggie party. It was fun...but more on that later.

The treats are wildly popular with all dogs. It's kind of a project to do but apparently they are delicious to doggies. I'm going to give you the recipe because if you have a dog in your life, you should make these. They will love them.

3 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup non fat dry milk

3T (1 pkg.) dry chicken or turkey gravy mix

3T brown sugar

1 egg

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1 cup warm water

Mix all together (the dough is VERY sticky so I let it sit before I roll it out)

Roll

Cut with Cookie Cutter (I use a Bone shape)

Bake until golden brown and firm 350 degree oven

After the baking was complete. This recipe makes about 60 treats.

I bagged them up so that the other dogs could get a treat at the party.

And I used these tags I had made a few years ago. I love these grubby tags and wasn't blogging at the time I made them (one of Angie and my craft nights). So I figured I'd show how to do this too. The day started out very productive as you can tell. It went downhill as soon as I left the house, however.

Start out with some shipping tags from any office supply store.

2 cups hot water

1/4 cup instant coffee (dry)

1/4 instant tea

3 tablespoon imitation vanilla

Mix well in a bowl. Place tags in the bowl careful that they don't stick together. Let soak for 15 minutes

Lay on a cookie sheet and sprinkle lightly with cinamon. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Bake the tags for 15 minutes or until dry

I took the basket of treats to Cedar's birthday party. Jill is a live on staff member at the college so she invited her buildings and it was very impressive to see how many students came to this event. And there were several of our staff friends there too. Not to mention some other puppies. Our campus works with the guiding eyes program so there are lots of puppies on campus every year. It's nice to see them walking around campus and watching them play in the residence halls. And Cedar makes friends with all of them. He's a popular dog around here. So it was only to be expected that his birthday celebration would be too.

He's looking at the candle while people sang to him.

And he loved his treats too!

Happy Birthday Cedar!!

I love that I live in a place that a dog's birthday party is an event.

Exactly how it should be...

I've Been Thinking

2011-04-12T08:34:00.000-04:00

Sooooooo.....I have been thinking a lot about getting a puppy this summer. I have always hesitated because my work schedule is pretty crazy and I don't think that's fair to a dog. But maybe I could change my schedule a little...maybe I'll leave work at lunch and go let out the dog. Maybe I'll bring it to campus and let a student hang out with him/her. Maybe I'd be able to train it to be a therapy dog and then it can come to work with me. Maybe...

I would love a puppy/dog in my life. It might provide some excuse for me to create more balance in my work life. I would definitely take it on nice long walks every day. I would take him/her for puppy play dates with the other dogs on campus (our students participate in the guiding eyes program). The point is...I would love a dog and provide a happy life for him/her.

And these are some of the cuties that my little puppy could make friends with. This is Baby Katie (a guiding eyes puppy on the left) and Cedar (my friend Jill's 5 year old puppy). We went on a walk yesterday after I had a blah day and they made me smile a lot and realize how much I would love a dog of my own. Maybe even a golden...or a Boston Terrier...or a random cutie that needs a home. Who knows.

Besides I have time off in the summer that would allow me to be home to puppy train. And I have a little yard that would be good for that....

The only thing that worries me (besides my work schedule) would be these two little cuties. Gracie and Sadie are pretty spoiled, happy cats and I would hate to ruin their world (even if it's temporary). They are so sweet and cute and I would hate to upset them. I've watched dogs here before and they've gotten used to it. There was a lot of hissing to start with though.

I woke up this morning with these two cuddled up next to me and I actually wondered if my bed would be big enough for me all of us and a puppy...

Stay tuned. The summer is approaching.

Happy Tuesday!

Once Upon a Saturday

2011-04-10T20:54:00.000-04:00

After last week, I've decided to finally close the chapter of a part of my life (the guy that I always come back to liking). But this time, it's done. It's fine. I knew it would have to happen eventually and I'm actually tired or waiting around for conditions to change. They won't. And that's that.

So in an attempt to keep myself busy this weekend, I went to a craft show with some friends. Well, that's how it started, anyway. We did end up going to another little store too. And had some lunch. And spent the day running around town. It was nice. The weather was beautiful. I almost felt a little guilty because I didn't work out or spend much time outside. But I was really excited about the things I found.

This little cloche guy. My friend Angie and I repotted a plant into a tiny pot to put under it. I want more plants in my house but it never really works out because of the cats. They think they need to taste them. And I never remember which are poisonous and which aren't so it makes me nervous. We'll see how this works out.

I found this little bird thing at the country craft store. It's kind of cute on it's own, but not super impressive.

And I found this bowl. I didn't think much of it either, but it's was $3 and I figured I could do something Easter related with it.

BUT THEN...I got it home set the bird thing in the bowl and added some floral moss (or whatever it is) and ran out to get some robin eggs to place in there. I was pretty proud of myself. I don't know, maybe it's not as cute as I think it is but I still like it.

After our day running around looking at crafts, I decided the weather was nice enough to do my first spray painting of the season. Angie gave me this "A" a few months ago. She is the Greek Advisor at the other college in town and they used to have all the Greek letters hanging up in a room. But then they ripped them down years ago and Angie saved some of them. And I'm clearly in need of having a big "A" in my home. Here it is before...in it's hot pink glory.

After a few coats of Italian Olive paint, it now looks like this. It matches my couches.

I'm not sure where it needs to live but I think it'll stay on the correspondence desk for now. Maybe I'll find a better home for it another day.

I had a few other projects but I'll share those another time. I don't want to overwhelm you with my creativity too much in one post. Ha!

Today was really productive. I got up did laundry and tanned. Then went to the campus lake for a Greek event and then did my grocery shopping and a few other errands. Tonight I'm relaxing because it's going to be a busy week. So I'm watching some TV, catching up on FB and doing my nails. As per every Sunday night.

What did you do this weekend?

Wise Words

2011-04-08T16:56:00.001-04:00

It won't be surprising to most that I keep a journal with poems, quotes and lyrics that I love. (I mean, it makes sense since I take pictures of my nail polish and my clothes, after all) I've kept this journal since I was in about junior high. I took it out the other night and was reading through it. Some of the pages made me laugh (let's be honest I have Mariah Carey lyrics in there--don't judge). I wanted to share one that always gets me. I probably copied it in my book over 10 years ago (during a heart broken period). But I still read it and it still rings true.

After a while you learn

the subtle difference between

holding a hand and chaining a soul

and you learn

that love doesn't mean leaning

and company doesn't always mean security.

And you begin to learn

that kisses aren't contracts

and presents aren't promises

and you begin to accept your defeats

with your head up and your eyes ahead

with the grace of woman, not the grief of a child

and you learn

to build all your roads on today

because tomorrow's ground is

too uncertain for plans

and futures have a way of falling down

in mid-flight.

After a while you learn

that even sunshine burns

if you get too much

so you plant your own garden

and decorate your own soul

instead of waiting for someone

to bring you flowers.

And you learn that you really can endure

you really are strong

you really do have worth

and you learn

with every goodbye, you learn...

Veronica A. Shoffstall

Do any of you have one of these books with poems/lyrics/quotes? Maybe someday I'll compile it with a forward and get it published. Speaking of which....I need to get the new Caroline Kennedy book.

Happy Friday!!

Tropical Treats

2011-04-04T21:15:00.001-04:00

The first day of work after a fun weekend and spring break, is always a little chaotic. And today was no exception, I went nonstop ALL day and really felt like I didn't accomplish anything of substance. I met with a lot of students though which is fine but it's pretty exhausting and I rarely get any "work" done. And forget about answering e-mails...I just read them and will get to them...eventually.

Anyway, sometimes the only real structure I have in my crazy days are what food I'm consuming. And since I'm back on board with tracking all of my food and working out twice a day, I think about food a lot but not in the crazy, craving way. More like, how I can be healthy AND keep it interesting. So I thought I would share two new things that have been fun additions to my life.

First of all, I adore coffee. I even like coffee flavored things. I think that may be the hardest thing for me to give up if I was ever told I had to give up something. So I was picking out some new K cups and found Island Coconut. It's great and I'm always really excited to drink coffee after my morning shred session.

Second I decided I needed something sweet for my lunches and I'm kind of over Fiber One bars or my usual mix of bananas, strawberries, kiwi and grapes. So I got frozen mango chunks and today was the first time I brought them in my lunch. I threw them in a bowl straight from the freezer and by lunch time, almost all thawed (still a little frozen which I kind of like). I highly recommend this as a snack. I almost didn't even care about my actual lunch because I was excited to get to this. I think this will become a regular staple item in the AG house.

And I think I must be really ready for summer because both of my new favorite things are tropical themed. Speaking of...I'd really love a drink with an umbrella right now...

Happy Monday!

April Shower

2011-04-03T22:31:00.001-04:00

This has been a very nice weekend. My friend Jill's bridal shower was on Saturday night. I have to say that it was probably one of the BEST showers I've been to. It was hosted by Jill's friend that she dog walks for. She did an amazing job with the food. It was an evening shower so it felt more like a party than a shower. There were no games (Jill's not a game playing kind of bride). Jill has some nice people in her life and it was fun to see them all come together to celebrate her. I uploaded the pictures out of order so just go with it.

This is the most delicious cake. It was made by Jill's best friend (and Maid of Honor), Ashley's mom.

The food. Everything was so good!

The invitation.

The invitation was made by Caitlyn (one of the bridesmaids). She painted the picture and had it made into the above invitation. She did a fantastic job!

Jill with her bridal party

After Jill opened all of her presents, her mom gave all of us these cute bags to use for the wedding in July. It's so thoughtful.

Jill opening the presents. How cute is she?

Me and Jill

The picture of the cute bag (our dresses are purple). So cute!

The favor was lip balm. Jill always has her lip balm and this one goes along with the shower theme.

Although Jill doesn't do the usual "bridey" stuff like shower games, we did make the bonnet and bouquet for her. She's a good little bride!

It was a lovely night and it makes me SO excited for the bachelorette weekend in June and, of course the big event...the wedding in July. I'm so happy for Jill and hope that she had a great shower.

I can't believe it's already Sunday night. What did you do this weekend?

Think Spring

2011-04-01T23:49:00.047-04:00

The first day of April and there was snow predicted. Luckily, it only snowed a little. It mostly rained, but we definitely didn't get the amount of snow that they were warning. All I know is I'm completely sick of winter. I mean I hate winter all the way through but this year it's creeping into spring and that's really annoying.

In spite of the weather being so silly, I started putting out decorations for spring/Easter. It's a little "If you build it, they will come".

A cute little chick plate.

A ceramic basket of eggs. I need to do something more creative with the basket though. I'll come up with something.

Cute plate. I think I got it from Cracker Barrel.

I saw this in a magazine a few years ago and thought it was cute.

Not spring but I put something in the birdcage I got a few weeks ago. I need a cute plant but this is a good filler until I get something else.

Also, not spring but I got a set of note cards and thought it would be cute framed in my room. And I had gotten this frame at the dollar store. Cheap, easy and fun.

So now that I've shared the beginning of spring decorations at Club Chestnut, I hope that Mother Nature logs in and reads and decides to reciprocate with some more spring like weather. Fingers crossed!

Have a great weeekend!

The Nail File

2011-03-31T23:50:00.001-04:00

Anyone who knows me knows my adoration for nail polish. But sometimes this can be problematic. Not because it's a bad addiction but because I simply have so much. I refuse to count how many bottles I have because I fear that the answer. And well, another problem is the storage issue. I've had it stored in a 2 drawer stand in my bedroom but it's difficult to look through. I recently decided to part with any polish that isn't OPI or Essie. I didn't open the "other" drawer in over a year, so I put all of those in a basket to bring in to my office. The college students were very happy to go through the basket and take some bottles off my hands.

Anyway, I have often thought of a new creative way to store the polish, but haven't figured out a way that isn't completely ridiculous. So the polish lives in the drawers. Then the other night, a friend posted the most brilliant idea on Facebook. A fabric jewelry organizer. I had purchased one in January and it holds all of my jewelry perfectly and it's hidden away in my closet. I never thought of using it for polish. But my friend's picture inspired me to go out the next day to get the new organizer. This morning I tested it out. And by that I mean I should have been getting ready for work, but found myself putting all of my polish in the pockets.

Look at that! This organizer hold about 70 bottles (on both sides).

I have to categorize by color still, but I think this is an excellent way to organize. I think it'll hand on my closet door. Oh, and for the record, I still have a few spots open on the back so I don't have 70 bottles of nail polish....yet. haha.

Happy Thursday!

Goodbye Greenie

2011-03-29T21:24:00.001-04:00

Unfortunately, it's time for this post. I've known the end was near but I didn't want to admit it. So I'm doing it here so I have to follow through on the end. What in the world is this girl talking about? (I'm sure you're asking)

I'm talking about my absolute favorite article of clothing, my green trench coat.

You see, I've had this particular coat since approximately 2000. And I know this for a fact because I purchased this coat and then proceeded to go to see Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon in the theatre with some friends. Don't ask me how I remember these silly things. But anyway, it was purchased from the Gap and I actually paid full price because I loved it that much.

Here I am wearing it yesterday. Bad lighting but it's definitely green.

Anyway, I loved it back then and figured I'd wear it for a few seasons and then it would be donated somewhere. But a few seasons turned into 11 years. For the record, I have NO other article of clothing from 11 years ago (aside from a few t-shirts that I'm using to make a t-shirt quilt). For whatever reason I became very attached to this coat. I think we took a few breaks through the years but it always remained through all the closet purges. And in the last few years I've brought it back in full force. So much so that it's now dingy and gross. It's been washed and dry cleaned frequently but the wear and tear of 11 years is evident. It's particularly worn at the pocket area and the sleeve cuffs. But I still wear it. I realized a few months ago that this would be it's last season. But now that it's almost time, I'm bummed.

Here it is back in 2001. My friend Beth and I in Maine.

And I realize this is probably a really silly thing to be blogging about but I have a theory about clothes. I don't get attached because styles change so much and I get tired of things and I figure if I have a picture of me wearing it, that's good enough. But this one, this one is gonna be tough to retire. I haven't been able to find something to replace it. It's got a zipper and snaps and it's my signature color. It's stood the test of fashion for 11 years. That's good stuff.

So once it gets warm it'll be time to retire my beloved coat. You've served me well, Greenie!

Do you have any article of clothing that you are attached to?

Happy Tuesday!

Objects of Desire

2011-03-28T21:44:00.001-04:00

Today FLEW by! And I was in better spirits than I have been in weeks. One of the reasons is because it's spring break and the students are all home or off on a cruise somewhere. As much as I love working with them, I need them to go away so that I can catch up and get paperwork and other projects. I got a few projects done so that explains the day flying by.

Tonight I'm relaxing at home under the electric blanket (because it's still SO effing cold out) doing my usual "window shopping" on line. What am I currently looking at? Well, since you asked so nicely....

A monogrammed pendant. I found this cute Etsy shop that I'm going to order from. I can't decide if I want it 3/4" or 1". I'm leaning towards 1". All I know is that it's exactly what I'm looking for.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/GaudyBaubles

I also am currently lusting over this Michael Kors zip around wallet. I've seen it in person and I think it's perfect. I'm in the market for a new wallet because I am still rocking the ultimate Vera Bradley wallet that I have had for two years now. I'm kind of over Vera and that wallet is huge. I'm ready to go back to leather and a more sly design. Picking a wallet is serious business for me. I don't change wallets often so I like one that will fit all of my needs. I change my bag so often that a wallet tends to be my only constant. I can't decide if I want it in brown or black. Either way, I'd be in love.

The next one is kind of a annoying. I really, really, really want a new ipod. I just upgraded last year to a new nano but I only got an 8G and that's proving to be too small still. So I'd like a 32GB touch. I use it ALL. THE. TIME. so I think this isn't completely frivolous. I have to stop trying to think I won't fill up the memory. I need to get on board and realize I absolutely will. Maybe I should just get the 64GB and call it a day.

And lastly, but definitely not leastly...a new Keurig. I got a mini from my Aunt last year and I LOVE it. But I want that one to live in my office and the big one to be at home. I need the option to make a travel mug sized cup. I don't have that option with the mini. And it would be nice to not have to fill up the reservoir every single time. Especially on a lazy Sunday morning.

Ha. I guess that's it for my one line shopping wish list right now. And to be honest, I think I make these posts for me so I can keep track of my objects of desire. It's not like I'm going to running out to get all of these next week. I wish I could have a life like that.

Plus, I'd like to help any secret admirers out there decide what anonymous gift they should send. HA!

What are your current objects of desire?

It's a Date

2011-03-27T22:26:00.003-04:00

It's been a very quiet weekend. Yesterday I didn't feel well so I pretty much layed around all day resting. It was nice. I felt better to go to craft night at my friend Angie's. I'll be showing you what I learned to make soon. I have to finish the project first. Today I got up and cleaned and then went to my office to catch up on on some work. It's spring break for the students so I'll have the entire week to do projects. It's good, because I'm not really in the mood to be really busy. ha.

Tonight I don't want to write about anything real. Instead I want to think ahead to a theme party I'm going to have with my girls. As I've mentioned a million times, I love royalty. And I'm SUPER excited about the upcoming wedding in April. I remember watching Princess Di and Prince Charles get married when was really little. It seemed so magical back then and I had little to no idea what I was watching.

So I decided that I am going to take the day off and host a viewing at my house. It's going to be a slumber party style deal since it'll be on so early. But that's okay. We'll wake up in our best PJs (with hats, of course) and have breakfast/brunch. Complete with tea and mimosas, clearly.

Now, what kind of hat do I want to wear? (I didn't buy this one but I kind of wish I did)

And I think since it's going to be slumber party themed, we should do our nails (obviously). So I've been scoping out some possible colors that we may (WILL) need:

"No More Waity Katie"

And "Dating a Royal"

OOOH, and maybe I'll even wear my favorite shoes. I'm sure they'll go with my pajamas. I mean, it's a royal wedding, I'm gonna need to be festive!

And I'm sure I'll come up with some other ideas for the day. You know I love a good theme party! Let me know if you think of other fun things for us to do at the royal viewing party.

Happy Sunday!

What I'm Loving

2011-03-24T22:03:00.001-04:00

I feel unspired to blog lately. I could write about how blah I feel. Or that Syracuse basketball broke my heart on Sunday night. Or that I could barely walk this week after I started the 30 day shred (don't worry, I'm much better now). Or that I have a cold and I think it's my body telling me I need to slow down. Or that I'm in love with a dummy. Or that 2011 was supposed to be much better than this. Or that I want a new job in a far away city.

But none of that sounds like fun.

SO, I'll share some things that manage to make me smile despite my aforementioned crankiness. Are you ready? Okay, here goes...

1. I purchased my eye cream that I mentioned awhile ago. It was $52 and I know that's crazy talk but I don't care. I like it that much and I work hard and deserve expensive eye cream. I just hope it works....ha!

2. While I was in Philly, I went to Sephora and purchased this year's mascara collection. It's amazing. Whoa. I look forward to putting on my makeup when I have new mascaras to play with. (And for the record, if I could max out a credit card in any store, it would most certainly be Sephora)

3. Adele's new CD. I got it last week and I haven't stopped listening yet. It's amazing and I don't think I'll get sick of it anytime soon. If you haven't heard it, you must.

4. And I've only recently discoverd Moscato. I like wine but I'm pretty clueless about them. I usually go with my standard White Zinfandel--so boring. Anyway, I tried some Moscato and now I want a bottle of wine to live in my fridge. I've never been the girl that drinks a glass of wine while watching TV but I think I could do that with this one. It's delicious. And it's also nice to sip while listening to some Adele. It was the most calm I've felt in awhile.

And there you have it--things I'm loving right now. It's the little things that sometimes make a bad week seem a little more pleasant.

What are you loving right now?